CNN reports that a man was mauled to death by a lion in Accra Zoo in Ghana.
The event happened last Sunday, close to noon local time. Guards at the zoo noticed a middle-aged man scaling a mesh fence where a male lion, a lioness and two cubs were enclosed. This proved to be a fatal decision, and the man succumbed to his injuries.
The state Forestry Commission said, “the intruder was attacked and injured by one of the lions.”
The man’s motivation and the incident itself are being investigated.
Accra Zoo is a top attraction for lovers of big cats and other exotic animals. The reinforced mesh enables visitors to safely get up close and personal with the animals.
As noted by The Guardian, “the zoo was established as a private menagerie in the early 1960s by Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. It was opened to the public after his overthrow in 1966.”
This is not the first time a person has encroached on a wild animal at a zoo. Usually these incidents don’t end well, and the public has little sympathy for the trespasser.
In 2019, Myah Autry climbed into a lion enclosure at the Bronx Zoo, which she described as a “spiritual” experience. Footage showed her taunting a male lion, who looked confused but didn’t attack her.
A woman at El Paso Zoo in Texas climbed into an enclosure to feed Cheetos to spider monkeys. She wasn’t injured either, and was genuinely shocked at the backlash she got in person and online. The woman was terminated from her job at a law firm.