Tigers named Radjah and Dehli, were on the loose.

In a tragic incident at Bahawalpur Zoo in Dec 2023, four tigers attacked and killed an unidentified person who had entered the zoo during the night. The trespasser fell into the tiger enclosure, where the caged animals tore him apart and consumed his remains.

At 11:30 am, zoo staff discovered a shoe in a tiger’s mouth, leading them to the victim’s body. Although the individual remains unidentified, reports suggest he was a drug addict.

District Administration, police, and wildlife personnel, along with rescue and forensics teams, swiftly responded to the scene. Bahawalpur District Commissioner attributed the incident to poor security and initiated an investigation into the unauthorized entry. He confirmed the incident occurred during the night, and a post-mortem examination will be conducted on the victim’s body.

Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister sought a report from the Secretary Wildlife and Commissioner Bahawalpur. He mandated a comprehensive security audit of zoos.

Deputy Director Wildlife sent a preliminary report to Director General Wildlife. It is not stated in the report as to how the deceased citizen entered the limits of the zoo.

This incident echoes a similar tragedy in February 2020, where an 18-year-old boy named Bilal was found dismembered inside a lion’s cage at a zoo in Lahore. Bilal, reported missing, had entered the zoo to cut grass, leading to a fatal lion attack. In November 1999, an Asian black bear mauled an 18-month-old child to death inside a cage in Lahore Zoo.

Wildlife experts have raised concerns that lions, tigers and other predatory animals in zoos may become more dangerous and attack zookeepers if they get a taste for human meat and blood. When lions and tigers become hungry, they have the ability to attack anyone.

Following the death of a citizen in Bahawalpur Zoo, caretakers and zookeepers have been instructed to be cautious in the future. According to wildlife experts, there is a higher risk that big cats will attack humans, even their caretakers, if they have tasted the human flesh.

Senior Veterinary Officer Punjab Wildlife Dr Rizwan Khan said that when they are hungry, all carnivorous animals, including tigers and lions, have the natural tendency to attack other animals.

The majority of tigers and lions housed in zoos are born in captivity and have only ever eaten the meat provided to them. However, they naturally acquire a new taste after consuming human flesh and there is a chance they might attack any human, including their own keeper. Big cats typically attack when they are starved, a sentiment echoed by Deputy Director of Punjab Wildlife Multan Sheikh M Zahid.

He said a lion that consumes a lot of meat and sleeps between 17 and 18 hours a day. However, if they are hungry they will attack humans, regardless of whether or not they raised them. Although there have been no reports of such an incident in Pakistan thus far, there have been many cases worldwide where big cats have mauled and eaten their keepers and owners.

Dr. Muhammad Javed, father of Muhammad Bilawal, who had been mauled to death by several tigers at the Sherbagh Zoo, said that his son had neither been a drug addict nor did he have any police record. He said that the statements attributed to him by the Bahawalpur district administration were based on misrepresentation. He said that a false case had been registered against his son because he had had a fight with one of the wardens at the zoo.

Dr. Javed said he had not spoken with any administration officer since the death of his son nor did he give any statement vis-à-vis not going for any legal action. He accused the administration of not allowing him to meet the media persons.

On the other hand, the deputy commissioner of Bahawalpur said on Friday that relatives of Bilawal had reached Bahawalpur and identified Bilawal’s body.

The official claimed that the father of Bilawal had refused to take any action [against the Bahawalpur administration].

The deputy commissioner, however, said that police would continue their investigation into the incident, “which happened due to negligence”. He said that all of the SIMs that were issued in the name of the victim would be geofenced.

Meanwhile, the in charge of the forensic department at the Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, who conducted the postmortem examination, said that samples had been taken for ascertaining whether they contained evidence of any substance.

The police said that Bilawal’s father, Dr. Javed, had said that his son used to stay out for several days without informing them. The DSP of City said that the zoo management was to blame for the incident as the management should have checked before closing the gate of the zoo that no one had stayed behind. He said that it seemed that Bilawal must have fallen into the tigers’ cage from the roof of the cage.