Lion Kills Man in Kiev

Combined Reports

Published: June 6, 2006 (Issue # 1175)

KIEV — A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in the Kiev Zoo after he crept into an enclosure, a zoo official said Monday.

“The man shouted ‘God will save me, if he exists,’ lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions,” the official said.

“A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery.”

Police identified the man as a 45-year-old ethnic Azeri with Ukrainian citizenship.

Four lions live in the enclosure.

The incident, on Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an “animal island” protected by thick concrete blocks.

Kiev Zoo, one of the biggest in the former Soviet Union, is home to more than 2,000 animals, birds and reptiles and receives about 280,000 visitors every year.

(Reuters, SPT)