Lion Nakula attacks animal keeper V Krishna in Bengaluru's zoo

BENGALURU: Safety equipment such as a high-pressure water hose and a riotshield could have prevented the lion attack at the Bannerghatta Biological Park ( BBP) earlier this week.

A captive lion named Nakula attacked animal-keeper Krishna on Tuesday morning. On Thursday, doctors performed intra-muscular suturing on Krishna, who was gored in the abdomen and back. The accident happened when the lion was let out through a side door by mistake while veterinary officer Dr Nirupama Jaisingh was about to vaccinate the animal.

Dr Nirupama told ET that Nakula, who was born and bred in captivity , did not go for a killing bite in the neck, something wild cats with their hunting instincts intact normally do. Instead, the lion had held Krishna by the abdomen. “We can never figure out why the animal attacked Krishna. With all the screaming and shouting all around, the lion was scared too,“ she said.

Generally , animals at the park are released every morning into the natural forest space in groups of seven or eight. Utmost care is taken to avoid any untoward incident, and the animal keepers actually call out to each other to ensure that nobody is at risk, she said. BBP executive director Range Gowda maintained it was human error that caused the accident. Pointing out that such errors could happen again, he said that the incident highlights the professional hazards every veterinarian or attendant faces.