A lion named Zeus was shot dead on Sunday after escaping from the Land of Lions theme park near Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya and attacking a man, authorities said.
The incident occurred in the early hours in Manavgat, about 60 kilometres from Antalya. According to a statement from the Antalya governor’s office, the lion had broken free from its enclosure at the animal-themed attraction, prompting an urgent manhunt by local security forces.
Zeus reportedly attacked Suleiman Kir, an agricultural worker who was sleeping in a pistachio field with his wife at the time of the escape. Kir sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
“We were covered with blankets to protect ourselves from mosquitoes… I tried to stand up but I couldn’t,” Kir told BirGün newspaper. “I felt something touch my left foot… I thought it was a dog. Then I saw it was huge.”
Kir described wrestling with the lion in a video posted online. “It was biting my calf and neck. I grabbed it by the neck and squeezed. That’s when it backed off, and security arrived. If I hadn’t been strong, I wouldn’t be here now,” he said.
Authorities said the lion was shot dead because it posed an immediate threat to public safety. “It was not possible to catch the escaped lion alive,” the governor’s office confirmed, adding that an investigation into the circumstances of the escape is now underway.
According to BirGün, the Land of Lions Park houses around 30 big cats.
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