Man killed in Delhi Zoo by Tiger bite

A man either fell into an enclosure or jumped into it and was killed. The following report is from NDTV. In the image clicked from a mobile phone, the man is seen with folded hands apparently praying for the tiger to release him. Sad to see a loss of life of a person. Wonder if zoos have become a place to commit suicide. We regret the loss of life. Also please read the last line carefully,

Please read especially the last line carefully.

QUOTE

NEW DELHI: A white tiger attacked and killed a 20-year-old man who apparently fell into its enclosure at the Delhi zoo on Tuesday.

Witnesses claim the man, identified as Maksood, fell 18 feet into a dry moat in the tiger enclosure at around 1 pm. Moments later, the fully-grown tiger could be seen mauling him.

It is not clear how he fell; some say the barricade was too low and he fell in. An image taken by witnesses shows him cowering before the animal, his hands folded.

"He crossed the barrier of the enclosure and jumped in," said Zoo Director Amitabh Agnihotri. He said the enclosures are "absolutely safe" and no visitor can access the moat without crossing the barrier.

A witness said he raced to the tiger enclosure after hearing screams, to see the man locked in the tiger's jaws, "writhing badly in pain".

"We saw some kids throwing in small sticks and stones inside the tiger enclosure. Then we saw that a white tiger had gripped a man by his neck. No one helped him," said Himanshu, a visitor.

Authorities eventually frightened the tiger into a small cage inside the enclosure. The body remained at the spot two hours after the attack, said AP.

Witnesses say the man suffered for an agonizing 10-15 minutes before dying. But security guards were allegedly not equipped to save the man; witnesses claim they didn't have tranquilizer guns or wireless sets to call in reinforcements. The Zoo authorities deny it.

"The tiger didn't attack at first till stones were thrown at it. The man tried to run away but the tiger swiped at him, wounding his neck. Then it carried him away by the head," said Bittu, a witness who filmed the horrific incident on his mobile phone.

Another witness said security guards spent too much time trying to shoo people away from the enclosure.

White tigers are found in southern and eastern Asia, particularly India, and owe their appearance to a recessive gene. They are regarded as an endangered species.
UNQUOTE

NDTV which does high profile "Save the Tiger" campaigns should check its facts about white tigers.

"Indeed, we are blessed with power of speech to be put to use only to demean lesser blessed ones..

Yesterday while media was abuzz with India's mission to Mars, there was a parallel news running on tabloids on how a youth has been brutally killed by a "White Tiger" in a zoo in New Delhi. Coming straight to the point, it leaves us "The Sane Beings" to answer- After all who can be held responsible for this brutality. With all the grey matter that human race has been blessed with, it will not take more than a minute to convict ourselves for the life of the youth. Reasons for such judgement turns out to be pretty simple & consequential.

First, you capture the wild from wild & put it behind the bars by calling it man-eater or some fabricated reason. How about its Right to Freedom?

Second, as a witness to number of zoos, we see how these animals are subjected to teasing, pelting of stones, snatching of tail & what not. How about its protection from humans, we are not less dangerous? How many of us know how to behave in zoos? We talk of bio-diversity of this country but how about behaving in this diversity. & when these animals react to the nuances created by the humans whether in zoo or wild, we spare not even a second & blame it all on them & declare them as Man-Eaters.

Did anybody try to seek answers as to how this youth found himself in the cage, of course it wasn't a part of his evening walk regime? & how about zoo officials, where were they for good 15 minutes during which tiger dint touch the youth, it only sniffed & pawed gently as has been shown in the video? What would you say to all the screaming, pelting of stones etc captured in video, well they could be also the reason good enough which made tiger maul the youth? Blame it on animal only when you have answers to the basic questions coz we are no saint.

Lastly, what leaves me introspecting is the fact that a youth gets killed by a tiger & there is nation-wide stir on tabloids. What about hundreds of tigers & other animals that are poached & killed each year? Who will write about them? Do they ever get nation-wide coverage?

This sad incident is being beaten to death by the frenzy whipped up by the media and the social network circles. Blame games have crisscrossed all known stake holders including the TIGER!!!

Unless we look beyond this immediate knee jerk reacting and work a long term plan learning from this experience, this will be another of those incidents that would come back to haunt us later. Obviously it requires a collective effort of – The zoo Authorities, The Government (ministry) and of course the most important aspect – WE as Citizens.

WE AS RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS
- Animals are great co habitants of our planet. They are to be treated with due care, respect and dignity, for they play an important part in the entire food chain and ecosystem.
- Any animal needs its share of space and respect. Breach that and they can be a handful. Respect the animal and enjoy watching them rather than teasing or ill treating them.
- Zoo’s or Game Parks are places where the animals live. We are visitors there and we need to take precautions to observe or view them from designated safe areas.
- On this incident, Tigers are Tigers and they would only do what they do best – Kill. They belong in the wild and their instincts are to try to eat anything that comes into their range and looks like food. It would be foolish to even attempt to breach the privacy of these big cats.
- Remember, these are extremely powerful and quick animals and we simply don’t stand a chance of even running away, leave alone taking them on
- SO BEING AWARE AND BEHAVING RESPONSIBILITY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT

ZOO AUTHORITIES
- Take Pains to educate and make people aware on the safety aspects
- Segregate Separate Zones – especially for dangerous animals like cats, elephants, Crocs etc
- Have high fences, Water filled Moats and second layer deterrents for these enclosures
- Have an effective CCTV system deployed and monitored closely for these core zones
- Have Alarms, Jet Nozzles, Cracker vaults, Pepper Sprays etc. for emergencies in the core zones
- Have a rescue cage which can be lowered and people can take shelter in times of such accidents or even attacks on zoo workers during feeding or cleaning operations
- Monitor visitor movements at the control room and on the core zones by field personnel
- Have an efficient wireless communication system and an emergency / DR process deployed
- Have a Zoo patrol monitoring the visitors with powers to remove mischief mongers
- Train staff and have mock Emergency / Contingency drills

GOVERNMENT
- Invest on Security and surveillance equipment
- Enforce strict rules on alcohol, smoking etc inside Zoo’s, Game parks
- Frame Tough laws and punishments for Violators which would be strong deterrents
- Invest on launching an awareness campaign

I agree with Rajbir on his observation. We all know this is not the first time this has happened (remember the 1993 Banerghata incident when a little girl was killed) and this is not going to be the last time either, unless a serious effort is made towards Awareness, Regulations and Enforcement.

regards
Rajan

very well said Rajan

All those seen in the various mobile phone videos pelting stones and screaming at the tiger should be charged as responsible for the poor man's death. As one can see clearly in the widely spread video, the tiger was very gentle, and only aggressed when the crowd turned rowdy.

Tragic episode. Ill luck. Tryst with destiny...There was no soul like that of Smt. Nihar Roycowdhury of Simlipal around to keep vigil on the tiger when kept in the open and to call it back. Where were the keepers whose one call could have saved the life of the boy? The tiger is inquisitive by instinct, and it has behaved normally.
The boy, had he stood on his feet, maintaining total silence, could have got some more time for others to intervene.

N.B.:
Jashipur FRH, Simlipal T.R
(adjacent to the the rooms of Late Shri Saroj Roy Chowdhury, Field Director and Smt. Nihar Roycowdhury, within the same boundary wall.)
7th. April, 1980

Early morning, I had gone outside the compound for watching and talking to the tribal children collecting fallen green mangoes. I entered the compound through the main gate, covered the open space and was on the varandah close to my room.

Chap, chap, chap............came the sound.... I heard someone accelerating and moving closer...both loudness and pitch increasing fast. I turned back and found Khairi, the tigress, rushing towards me. There was no one around at that moment. I stood motionless, absolutely silent, without the least movement of the eyeballs or eyelids. The tigress was already standing on her hind legs, her forepaws were on the wall, positioned on both sides above my shoulder. We looked into each other's eyes.

..........Khairi, Khairi, K-h-a-i-r-i...........Smt. Nihar Roychowdhury came running at her topmost speed calling Khairi continuously, and affectionately caressed Khairi's head. Only then did Khairi withdrew her forelegs and eventually followed her obediently.
SaktiWild

The last thing he could have done was to sit down. However, some reports say that he was not mentally sound. The crowd was creating a ruckus and the tiger can easily get nervous in such situations. Many years back I had visited Delhi zoo and watched how terrible the crowd can be. One group were throwing stones at the tiger. Another group were shouting in chorus with a lone Hoolock Gibbon. The poor gibbon was extremely irritated. In this era of internet when people can watch good videos and images of animals and birds, the role of zoo in education is redundant. The zoos also now play a very minuscule role in conservation, if at all. It is time to close down all zoos. Here is what the former head of Delhi Zoo, late Kailash Sankhala says about zoos. http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/sho...0130#post10130

Shaktipada ji,
Good to know that you had seen Khairi. I am not so fortunate. I have only seen the films.

Sabyasachi