A man, aged nineteen, died after climbing a six-metre wall in an attempt to re-enter an enclosure where a lioness was being exhibited at a zoo in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Gerson de Melo Machado entered the limited space of the big cat enclosure at the Arruda Câmara Zoobotanical Park (Bica), in João Pessoa, Paraíba, state. Police and zoo staff said the man was killed after he was attacked late last November.
A Deadly Breach
Safety officials said that Machado somehow scaled the high outer security wall around the predator exhibit. He climbed up and onto the top of the concrete wall and then climbed down into the enclosure using a nearby tree trunk. The trespassing lioness was discovered by eyewitnesses and staff as she wandered into her territory and was noticed by the other lionesses. When security personnel noticed the lioness walking in, she was quickly spotted by the resident lionesses.
Shortly after the intrusion was reported, Park personnel and emergency service personnel responded to the scene. The teenager was already mortally wounded by the power of the big cat, to which the rescuer attempted to intervene. Machado was dead when the paramedics formally pronounced him dead within the enclosure, but before his body could be safely retrieved to the local emergency teams.
Animal Instincts Recognised
After the death, park bosses and local officials reviewed the events of the incident to decide on further action to take with the big cat. According to the zoo’s official statement, the lioness was in an “unexpected” territory when she was disturbed by an outside person and acted on her innate territorial instinct.
Conservationists and animal welfare officials said the predator responded not to the presence of an active breach but to “abnormal aggression”. This means the lioness will not be put to sleep, officials confirmed, since she did not leave her enclosed area and did not cross into public areas where containment barriers are in place.
Police investigations are ongoing.
The local law enforcement agencies in Paraíba have launched a formal investigation into the security breach. Police are reviewing video, interviewing park staff and asking for witness statements from those who were at the botanical park in the afternoon of the crime.
Police are in the process of determining why Machado did what he did, including his background and his state of mind before entering the gated compound. Zoo officials were horrified by the loss of life but said that normal visitors’ safety procedures are still in place throughout the zoo.
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