Man is mauled to death by lioness at zoo after climbing into enclosure in front of horrified visitors
A man was mauled to death by a lioness at a Brazilian zoo after climbing into an enclosure in front of horrified families.
The victim, identified as 19-year-old Gerson Machado, entered the big cat’s pen in a shocking repeat of his previous attempts to approach the lions as part of his obsession with becoming a trainer.
Machado, who once tried to reach Africa on a smuggled plane in a desperate attempt to follow his dream, was known to the police for repeatedly violating security due to his passion for big cats.
The troubled teenager, who has spent most of his life in care and struggles with serious mental health issues, was filmed climbing a tree in the enclosure after scaling a 20ft wall at the zoo in João Pessoa, north-east Brazil.
A horror video recorded the moment when the lioness, who zoo veterinarians said was ‘stressed’ and ‘in shock’ after the incident, was attacked as she approached the ground.
Veronica Oliveira, a child protection worker who worked with Gerson for eight years, said he grew up in extreme poverty without a proper family support structure and described him as having mental health issues, like his mother, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
His own problems meant that he was the only one of his siblings not taken in by adoptive families.
He told a Brazilian news site: ‘Gerson was a child whose rights were violated.
It was determined that the man who died after jumping into the enclosure where a lion was kept in a zoo in Brazil was a 19-year-old young man who had previously tried to reach Africa by plane to pursue his dream of training big cats.
The teenager, who spent years in care and has mental health issues, was filmed climbing down a tree to reach the lioness yesterday after scaling a 20-metre wall in the port city of Joao Pessoa in north-east Brazil.
Horror video captured the moment the lioness, who zoo veterinarians said was left “stressed” and “in shock” after the incident, was attacked as she approached the ground
City police, who arrested Gerson several times for minor offenses including criminal damage, confirmed Gerson’s African dream and said he told them he would make the journey ‘on foot’ after the airport’s security breach.
‘He was the son of a mother who had schizophrenia and his grandparents also had mental health problems. He lived in extreme poverty.’
Explaining her dream of going to Africa to tame the lions, the woman explained the following in her painful post on social media: ‘You said you would get on a plane to go on safari to Africa to look at the lions.
‘I thanked God when I was warned at the airport that you had cut through the fence and entered the landing gear compartment of a Gol Airlines plane.
‘I thanked God because they saw on camera that there was a young man there before this tragedy happened.
‘The story of Gerson is the story of a boy who wanted to know Africa in order to tame the lions.
‘He discovered too late that the lion is not a domesticated cat and that we cannot tame them without the right knowledge. Unfortunately he wasn’t sensitive enough for that.’
City police, who arrested Gerson several times for minor offenses including criminal damage, confirmed his African dream and said he told them he would make the journey ‘on foot’ after the airport security breach.
Following yesterday morning’s tragedy at Arruda Camera Park, also known as Bica, city officials have confirmed that it will be closed until the ongoing investigation into the tragedy is concluded.
In a statement they said: ‘The murdered man climbed a 20ft wall and managed to get into the animal enclosure using one of the trees.
‘According to the police, this was a possible act of suicide. Although the security guards tried to stop him, he acted too quickly and the lioness died as a result of her injuries.
‘The park was closed immediately.
‘We would like to express our solidarity with the family of the victim of this sad incident.’
The 26.8-hectare park, which was opened in 1921 when the disaster occurred, is home to more than 580 animal species, including elephants, monkeys and birds, as well as a wide variety of plants.
Zoo veterinarian Thiago Nery said the lioness was brought under control without the use of tranquilizer darts.
He said: ‘He complied and returned to his pen but it took some time because he was stressed and in shock.’
In an online post that raised eyebrows due to some of its content, Brazilian politician Matheus Laiola, who previously served as police chief in Curitiba’s environmental protection department, said: ‘A lioness did the same thing a lioness does. Instinct, defenses and natural behavior of a wild animal.
‘Tragedy and error begin when people ignore basic safety boundaries, risking their own lives and also endangering the animal’s life.
‘A man died yesterday in Joao Pessoa after invading the lioness’ enclosure in Arruda Camara Park.
According to the city council, he climbed a six-metre-high wall, passed through protective bars, and entered the cage using a tree as support.
We stand in solidarity with the victim’s family.
‘Respecting wildlife is not a choice. This is a rule. When this limit is ignored, it is always the animal that suffers and this cannot continue.
‘Who do you think was the ‘animal’ in this situation?’
