A 20-year-old youth was mauled to death by a white tiger in Delhi’s National Zoological Park on Tuesday. The victim — identified as Maqsood from Anand Parbat in Central Delhi – apparently fell into the tiger’s enclosure from a height of nearly 15 feet while leaning on the main wall surrounding the enclosure.
According to Zoo Director Amitabh Agnihotri, the tragic incident occurred when Maqsoodcrossed the stand-off barrier and ‘jumped’ into the enclosure.
An eye-witness to the gruesome incident, Bittoo from Greater Noida, who captured the entire incident on his cell phone, said: “The man crossed the iron barrier and leaned into the enclosure, despite the guard warning him to stay away. He then fell and was seen sitting with folded hands for the next few minutes as the animal kept watching him.
The tiger pawed Maqsood on his neck and arm. It then grabbed him by the neck and dragged him to the upper area of the enclosure. The Zoo guards managed to scare the animal with crackers and loud sound. The tiger, a zoo-bred animal, then left the body and went back into its cage.’’
For nearly three hours after the incident, the body of the deceased lay in the enclosure. It was then taken by the Delhi Police to All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Confirming that Maqsood was warned not to cross the barrier, Mr. Agnihotri said: “Praveen, the guard posted at the enclosure, sounded an alarm after the man fell into the enclosure and called his supervisor and other staff through wireless . He along with other staff tried to divert attention of the tiger from the unfortunate visitor but to no avail. The mauled visitor died on the spot. The ambulance and the police were called immediately,” he added.
The Zoo official elaborated that all tiger enclosures have been designed according to Central Zoo Authority standards and it was impossible to get into the enclosure without scaling the standoff barrier.
“This visitor crossed the barrier and jumped into the enclosure which led to his death. The tiger came near the victim twice but didn’t attack. The third time it hit him with its paw on the neck and dragged him,’’ added Mr. Agnihotri.
Similar Attacks in India
August 2009: An inebriated visitor to the Nehru Zoological Park who tried to feed a white tiger grass, ended up at Osmania General Hospital with a severely mauled arm on Wednesday evening. >Read more
December 2007: Two tigers at the Guwahati Zoo mauled a visitor who put his hand into the enclosure to get a close-up photograph. The man lost his left arm and died later. >Read more
December 2000: Panic gripped the Alipore zoo in Kolkatta after a tiger killed a youth who ventured into the open-air enclosure for big cats by scaling the high wall surrounding it. >Read more