Lion Kills a Zoological Garden Keeper at OAU, Ile Ife
Panic gripped the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife on Monday after a lion broke loose from its cage at the institution’s zoological garden and killed a zoo keeper.
The zoo keeper, Olabode Olawuyi, a veterinary technologist, was feeding the wild cats in the zoo enclosure when a nine-year-old lion attacked him.
Efforts by his colleagues to rescue him from the lion failed, as he had been badly injured and did not survive.
The lion was immediately euthanized.
Spokesman of the university, Abiodun Olarewaju, said Olawuyi had been taking care of the lions since they were born nine years ago.
The university Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adebayo Banire, immediately halted all activities on the campus.
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The University management has sent a delegation to the widow and children of the deceased, imploring them to take solace in God who gives life and also has the power to take life,” he added.
The varsity spokesman said the management had ordered a comprehensive investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
In February 2018, a 22-year-old woman was mauled to death by a lion at a private game lodge close to South Africa’s capital Pretoria.
The victim was attacked by the lioness near Hammanskraal, roughly 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of Pretoria around 0900 GMT.
When Netcare 911 paramedics arrived at the scene, bystanders had initiated (resuscitation). Tragically, the victim had sustained severe injuries and she died at the scene, Nick Dollman, spokesman for the Netcare 911 ambulance service, said.
Also in August 2022, a South African conservationist was killed by lions he hand-reared, according to the family.
West Mathewson, 69, was walking with two white lionesses when one of the animals attacked and killed him without warning.
The incident took place on the premises of the family-owned Lion Tree Top Lodge, in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province.
