OAU Lion K!lls Zookeeper During Feeding (DETAILS)

A zookeeper, Olabode Olawuyi at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Nigeria has lost his life in an unprecedented and unfortunate encounter with one of the lions which was under his care.

Olabode Olawuyi, who had been working at the university zoo for close to a decade, was assaulted following a routine feeding session, according to the university.

Despite the efforts of his colleagues to intervene, Olawuyi sustained fatal injuries inflicted by the lion, leaving them unable to save him from the vicious attack, and eventually leading to his death.

However, the University authorities have since euthanized the lion believed to have cause the tragic event, this is to ensure the safety of both staff and visitors at the zoo.

The zookeeper, a veterinary technologist, had been “taking care of the lions since they were born on campus about nine years ago”.

“We never knew what came over the male lion that it had to attack [him],” the university’s public relations officer Abiodun Olarewaju said in a report by the BBC.

However, The university students’ union leader, Abbas Akinremi, told Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper that the attack was caused by “human error” after the zookeeper had forgotten to lock the door after feeding.