Man viciously mauled by lions at a private zoo in Zimbabwe

A Harare man was viciously mauled by lions barely a month after a Kariba woman was also killed by a lion while having sex in the bush with her boyfriend.

The Harare man was viciously mauled by lions at a private game park in Headlands and the authorities were desperately trying to keep the incident under wraps despite the danger posed by the animals to the surrounding areas.

The victim whose name could not be established was reportedly an employee of Lions and Cheetah Park, which supplied eight lions to a private animal zoo in Headlands, Makoni District. The incident was not reported to police.

Rusape District police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa, said no such case was reported.

"I have checked with the relevant police station and no such report was ever made. We are picking that tip from you for the first time and we are going to launch a probe into the matter given the danger the animals may pose to the surrounding communities," said Asst Insp Kakohwa.  

However The victim was one of the officials the supplier had deployed to Headlands "to train the recipient park workers" on how to relate to the cats.

A source privy to the incident said the victim failed to lure the lions into another pen after feeding them.

Only the victim was there when the mauling happened and his rescuers rushed to the scene after hearing him screaming for help and his deputy fired a shot in the air, while other workers hurled stones to scare away the vicious animals and safely reach the wounded man. The victim was rushed to Rusape General Hospital.

Efforts to establish from Lions and Cheetah Park what provoked the lions to attack and maul the victim were fruitless, as senior official contacted arbitrarily terminated the conversation when this reporter brought up the subject. However, authorities at Rusape General Hospital confirmed attending to the patient.

The Makoni District Medical Officer, Dr More Mungate, confirmed attending to the victim, who was temporarily detained in Ward 2, before his relatives and employers requested that he be transferred to a referral hospital in Harare.

"We attended to the patient who was attacked by lions in Headlands before his relatives requested that he be transferred to Harare where he stays. As a hospital we had the capacity to properly treat him," said Dr Mungate.

Dr Mungate said the victim sustained serious wounds in the buttocks, neck and lower abdomen.

"We cannot divulge his identity, but we can confirm that the hospital attended to a patient from Lions and Cheetah Park, who was attacked by lions in Headlands where he had been deployed to train workers at the private game park in dealing with the lions. The victim said he was alone in the cage when the attack happened. He sustained severe injuries on the buttocks, neck and lower abdomen," said Dr Mungate.

Another source added that the victim had just fed the lions, when he was first attacked by one lion before three others joined in.

"When I met him at Rusape General Hospital, he was writhing in agony. He had severe injuries and his clothes were bloodied.  He was rescued by a colleague from Lions and Cheetah Park who fired a shot in the air, while other workers threw stones to disperse the lions," said the source.