A tragic incident unfolded when a 38-year-old man lost his life while attempting to take a selfie with a lion. Identified as Prahlad Gujjar, reports indicate that he breached a safety barrier at Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in India to get closer to the animaI for a photograph.
Despite warnings from zoo staff, Gujjar proceeded to enter the lion’s enclosure. Before security personnel could intervene, the lion attacked him.
According to Tirupati police Mallika Garg, Gujjar climbed a 12-foot fence surrounding the lion’s den after seeing a security guard approaching. He fell into the enclosure where the lion and two lionesses were housed and was fatally mauled.
Man dares lion for a selfie, jumps into enclosure, gets mauled.
40-year-old Prahlad Gujjar jumped into a lion enclosure for a selfie in Tirupati SV Zoo park. He also behaved in a way to provoke the lion. After the lion attacked him, he made an in vain attempt to save himself by… pic.twitter.com/4vWaRNkSZM
— Sudhakar Udumula (@sudhakarudumula) February 15, 2024
Authorities responded swiftly to the incident, with zoo workers managing to lure the lions away from Gujjar’s body and back into their cages. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding Gujjar’s death is underway, including a post-mortem examination. Additionally, authorities are looking into whether Gujjar was under the influence of any substances at the time of the incident..