White Tiger Mauls, Kills Youth In Delhi Zoo
The incident,
which took place between 12.30 p.m. and 1 p.m., created a sensation and word
soon spread through the city, with photos and video of the tiger - one of the
zoo's star attractions - dragging the youth going viral.
Eyewitnesses and
zoo officials said the young man, identified as Maksood, 20, a resident of
Anand Parbat in Delhi, had "crossed the stand-off barrier" of the
white tiger's enclosure and then fell or jumped into the moat which separated
the enclosure from the visitors' gallery.
The majestic
six-foot, seven-year-old tiger, named Vijay, which was some distance away, saw
the man in the concrete moat, that was covered with dry leaves, and bounded up
to him.
Footage showed
the tiger glowering face-to-face at the man, as it initially appeared to be
surprised on seeing the sudden human intrusion into its habitat.
"As soon as
the youth fell into the moat, the tiger approached him and silently watched him
for nearly 15 minutes," Bittoo, an eyewitness, who recorded the entire
incident on his mobile, told media persons.
He said what
possibly provoked the tiger to attack the man was when onlookers and a guard
tried to divert its attention by pelting stones at it.
"Everyone
was pelting stones and making noises to divert the tiger's attention," Bittoo
added. "It was then that the tiger pounced on the youth with his paw and
dragged him inside his enclosure by his neck," Bittoo told IANS.
The tiger then
dropped the limp body at the far end of the enclosure.
Another
eyewitness Himanshu said: "The man was cowering in fear and appeared to be
pleading with folded hands to the tiger to spare him."
Some
eyewitnesses said it was not clear whether the man was drunk or he was clicking
photos of the tiger when he accidently fell from the cemented fencing. Delhi
Police official said post mortem report will reveal whether the man was drunk
and fell accidently or jumped knowingly.
The victim's
father Mehfooz later told police that his son had long "history of mental
illness."
"He had a
long history of mental illness but was fine now and was working in a factory.
He used to take cannabis," Mehfooz said, adding that Maksood was his
youngest son.
A statement by
Amitabh Agnihotri, the zoo director, said: "An unfortunate incident
occurred in the National Zoological Park around 1 p.m. when a male visitor
named Maksood, son of Mehfooz, resident of Gali no 11, Anand Parvat, aged 20
years crossed the stand off barrier of the white tiger's enclosure....and
jumped into the enclosure.
"Praveen,
guard posted at the enclosure, sounded the alarm and collected his supervisor
and other staff of the zoo by sending wireless SOS message. Praveen along with
other staff of the zoo tried to divert the attention of the tiger from the
visitor but to no avail. The tiger mauled the visitor who died on the
spot."
National
Zoological Park curator R.A. Khan told IANS that the tiger was later locked up.
"The tiger will be kept under observation and medically examined,"
Khan said.
The space where
the white tiger stays comprises of a moat, a natural space for the animal to
roam around and a concrete enclosure. There are in all ten tigers in Delhi Zoo,
six of them white and four Royal Bengal.
"All the
enclosures of the National Zoological Park are absolutely safe. No visitor can
reach the moat wall of the enclosure without the stand off barrier," the
zoo statement said.
The National
Zoological Park, located in the centre of the capital and one of the oldest in
the country, is spread over 176 acres is home to about 1,556 different birds
and animals. Delhi Zoo sees footfalls of 5,000 to 6,000 on weekdays and 12,000
to 13,000 on weekends.
Suparna Ganguly,
founder trustee of Bangalore-based Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, an NGO for
animal rehabilitation, said the tiger was not at fault.
"We get to
see a lot of hooliganism among zoo visitors. People misbehave, disturb and
harass the animals who have already been deprived of their natural
habitat."
But many thought
that since there was a considerable gap between the man falling into the tiger
enclosure and the animal attacking him, zoo authorities could have reacted with
greater alacrity and could have been better equipped to handle this emergency.
This was not the
first such instance in Delhi Zoo. Six years ago a drunk man had fallen into the
enclosure of a lion but the lioness had spared him.
Earlier too many
such cases have been reported from Indian zoos, including one in July 2012 when
a 32-year-old man was mauled and seriously injured by a tiger after he sneaked
into its enclosure at the Jharkhand zoo.
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