Bihar man jumps inside lion enclosure in Delhi zoo, escapes unhurt

A 28-year-old man jumped inside the enclosure of a lion in the Delhi zoo on Thursday (October 17), but escaped unhurt as zoo staff acted quickly and tranquilized the animal, official sources said.

The incident happened at around 12.30 pm. A zoo official said that the man went near the animal, sat down and started teasing it. The feline, however, did not attack him. The onlookers kept shouting, asking him to come back, but he did not pay any heed, the official said.

When the zoo staff entered the enclosure to save the man, he started running towards the lion, another official added.

Sources at the zoo said that the situation is under control now.

The sources said that Rehan Khan, a native of Bihar’s East Champaran district, was in an inebriated state and added that the man was rescued by the zoo staff and handed over to the police.

Khan did not sustain any injury and seemed to be mentally disturbed, according to police.
He currently resides in Seelampur in northeast Delhi and is being questioned by the police.

In a similar incident in September 2014, a white tiger had mauled a man to death after he had jumped inside the animal’s enclosure.