Lion kills zookeeper who took care of the animal since its birth nine years ago

Olabode Olawuyi, a zookeeper at the Obafemi Awolowo University in southwestern Nigeria, was mauled to death after being attacked by one of the lions. The male lion was the one he had been looking after for close to a decade.

As per reports, the incident happened when Olawuyi was feeding the lion, the university said in a statement further mentioning that another staff member working at the zoo was also injured.

As quoted by the German dpa news agency, the university spokesperson said that Olawuyi's colleagues tried to save him, however, he had received severe injuries.

"The aggressive lion was euthanised," the university said, further adding that it launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Some media reports also claimed that Olawuyi had left the lion's cage open when he was trying to feed it.

As reported by BBC, Olawuyi, a veterinary technologist, had been "taking care of the lions since they were born on campus about nine years ago".

As quoted, the university's spokesman, Abiodun Olarewaju, said: "But, tragically, the male lion killed the man who had been feeding them. We never knew what came over the male lion that it had to attack [him]."

Man dies after trying to take selfie with lion in enclosure

Earlier this month, a 38-year-old man was mauled to death by an eight-year-old male Asiatic lion at the Venkateswara Zoo in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The incident happened in Tirupati after the man entered its enclosure to click a selfie with it.

The man has been identified as Prahlad Gujjar, who hailed from Rajasthan state's Alwar district. He entered the restricted area and the lion which was there in the enclosure mauled him to death.

"Though our animal keeper noticed and cautioned Gujjar from entering the restricted area, he scaled the six-foot-high fence and jumped into the lions' enclosure," Tirupati Zoo curator C Selvam told PTI. Selvam said the zoo staff tried to rescue him but could not do so.

(With inputs from agencies)