Lion escapes enclosure during cleaning at Hyderabad Zoo; caretaker injured

Hyderabad: On Monday at 10:20 am, Sirisha, an African female lion, escaped from its enclosure in Nehru Zoological Park after injuring an employee. It was found within 20 minutes and returned to its enclosure.

According to the zoo, Sirisha, aged about 8 years old, suffering from paralysis of the hind limbs, was receiving treatment at the Summer House area (not available for public display) when the incident happened.

It escaped from the enclosure when Syed Hussain, the assistant animal keeper was cleaning the night houses and did not close the doors properly, the zoo administration said in a statement.

After cleaning Sirisha’s enclosure, Syed went into another enclosure but failed to close the doors in between. The female lion came out of its night enclosure and injured Hussain with its paws. He immediately ran out of the area alerting the other employees that the animal had come out from its enclosure. The supporting staff immediately reported the same to the higher authorities.

Fortunately, as per the standard operating procedure, the main gates were closed and being Monday it was a holiday for the zoo. After intimating the security personnel and the veterinary team, they went around with the darting equipment. The team was on rounds on the premises for health check-ups of the animals.

The veterinary team found the female lion near the crocodile moat and tranquilised it. It was sent back to the night house within 20 minutes. Syed Hussain was immediately taken to the Osmania General Hospital for further treatment and was discharged. An enquiry committee has been appointed by the director of the zoo park for a detailed enquiry and report immediately.

Based on the preliminary report by the deputy range officer Syed Hussain showed carelessness in safety measures and was irresponsible in monitoring the movement of the wild animals while closing the gates. The staff at the zoo was also limited being a Monday.

Further, a zoo committee has decided to call on experts to train the staff to face/reduce similar situations in the future.

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. The zoo had reported on some animals escaping their enclosures earlier. The management said that it is working on improving the proper monitoring and functioning to reduce any such incidents.