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Lalita Iyer
Lalita Iyer

freak incident

Drunk man jumps into lion enclosure to shake hands with big cats in Hyderabad

INDIA-WILDLIFE-ANIMAL (File) Image for representation

Mukesh was inebriated when he jumped into the lion enclosure in the Nehru Zoo Park in Hyderabad. Apparently he moved closer to the animals saysing “Please come to me my darling. Please.”

It was sheer luck that he did not become the next meal for the cats because visitors at the enclosure raised an alarm after they heard a loud splash when this 35-year-old Rajasthani man jumped into the moat, located more than 12 feet below the ground level. He waded towards the lioness waiting at the shore. The male lion, Krishna, soon joined Radhika, the lioness and they were eying Mukesh. To their anguish and excitement , the visitors and zoo staff threw stones at the big cats to distract them but that didn't stop Mukesh. He continued to move closer to the big cats.

“He was lucky, as the lions are usually wary of water. They are domesticated. Had it been the tiger’s moat, Mukesh it wouldn’t have ended well for him,” said one of the zoo staff.

Shrieks of the people at the enclosure scared the lions and it also made Mukesh to his senses as he realised the danger he had gotten himself into. Zoo staff lowered a long pole for him to climb out, while urging him to swim away from the cats. Meanwhile, animal keeper Pappaiah softly called out to the cats since it was dinner time at around 5 p.m. and they responded to his calls.

The visitors were so upset that they wanted to thrash Mukesh but the zoo administration handed him to the Bahadurpura police, where they kept him overnight.

Mukesh, a native of Sikar district in Rajasthan, is working for the metro rail and is an L&T employee and told the cops that he wanted to see the lion up close and shake hands with the big cats. Cases under sections IPC 448 and 38 F of Wildlife Protection Act (trespassing and teasing animals) were filed against him and he was sent to judicial remand.

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Topics : #crime

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