Warning: This article contains graphic description, images and video which some readers may find distressing
A zookeeper was fatally attacked by lions after going into their cage to ‘impress his girlfriend,’ with him capturing the horrifying moment on camera.
On December 17, during his night shift at Lion Park in Parkent, Uzbekistan, a zookeeper identified as F Iriskulov went into a padlocked area at the private reserve, filming himself doing so.
The footage shows the moment he entered the courtyard which contained three lions, before the animals approach him and then attack him.
The 44-year-old recorded himself unlocking the padlock to a courtyard area containing three lions.
Upon entering, the lions seem fairly unfazed by the keeper entering the space until they suddenly get up. However, rather than immediately pouncing on Iriskulov, the animals simply wander closer as the keeper calls out to one of the lions named Simba.
In the video he can be heard saying: “Simba, be quiet.”
According to EAST2WEST, the zookeeper was recording the video to send to his girlfriend to ‘impress’ her.
Alas, despite repeatedly telling the lions to ‘be quiet,’ the lions come closer and closer before the keeper’s calming voice turns to shouts of panic – and then, the big cats beginning to attack him.
The footage cuts out shortly after the keeper begins to start shrieking and it’s reported two of the lions were tranquilised and the other shot dead by other zoo officials.
By the time the officials arrived at the scene, the lions had already killed Iriskulov and ‘partially consumed the body,’ the official statement revealed.
Regional police stated, as quoted by The Mirror: “Today, December 17, three lions kept in a single cage at the Lion Park private zoo, located in the Parkent district of Tashkent Region, escaped into the zoo’s courtyard.
“[…] The lions entered the yard, attacking and injuring a 44-year-old keeper born in 1980. Unfortunately, the keeper later died from his injuries.”
This isn’t the only time where a zookeeper has ended up passing away after an altercation with a lion.
A trained lion handler in Nigeria named Babaji Daule also ended up mauled to death while trying to perform a demonstration of the animal’s feeding routine in September 2024.
Daule was an experienced lion handler at the Presidential Library Wildlife Park in Abeokuta in Nigeria’s Ogun state.
The zookeeper is reported as having passed away ‘on the spot’ after sustaining ‘serious fatal injuries’ to his neck.
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