Friday, March 29

Zoo worker has finger BITTEN OFF by a lion in front of horrified visitors at Jamaica Zoo


Zoo worker has finger BITTEN OFF by a lion in front of horrified visitors at Jamaica Zoo after putting his hand through cage bars while showing off

  • The footage was captured at the zoo in St Elizabeth as 15 people watched on
  • The video shows the man taunting the lion and poking his fingers into the cage
  • A witness said that observers thought it was a joke until he fell on the ground

This is the shocking moment a zoo worker had his finger bitten off by a lion after putting his hand through the cage to show off in front of visitors. 

The footage was captured at Jamaica Zoo, near Santa Cruz in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, at around 4.22pm on May 20 as up to 15 terrified people watched on.

The video shows the man taunting the lion and poking his fingers into the enclosure to stroke the animal’s mane. 

However, the lion clamps its jaws around the zoo worker’s finger as he desperately tries to pull his hand away.

Using his leg for stability and grabbing hold of his right arm with his left hand, the man tussles back and forth with the lion.

He is unable to get his finger free of the lion’s teeth and his right ring finger is seemingly severed from his hand.

A witness told The Jamaica Observer: ‘When it happened, I thought it was a joke. I didn’t realise the seriousness of it because it’s their job to put on a show.

‘Obviously, when he fell on the ground everybody realised that it was serious. Everybody started to panic.’

The woman continued: ‘The entire skin and about the first joint of his finger was gone.

‘I ran away from the whole thing, because me nuh like see blood and it was too graphic for me.

The video shows the man taunting the lion and poking his fingers into the enclosure to stroke the animal's mane

However, the lion clamps its jaws around the zoo worker's finger as he desperately tries to pull his hand away

The footage was captured at Jamaica Zoo, near Santa Cruz in St Elizabeth, at around 4.22pm on May 20 as up to 15 terrified people watched on

‘His facial expression when he was walking is like the pain never kicked in.’

Pamela Lawson, managing director of the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said: ‘We will be going down there and I will be communicating with the National Environment and Planning Agency who has oversight over Jamaica Zoo.’

The management of the facility released a statement on Sunday which read: ‘The actions displayed in a video by a contractor to Jamaica Zoo, is tragic and do not represent the safety procedures and policies that must be adhered to at all times at Jamaica Zoo.

‘We are currently reviewing the video, with a view of preventing any future recurrences. 

‘It is an unfortunate event that should never have happened, and we the family of Jamaica Zoo are doing everything to assist the gentleman in moving forward. 

‘We do hope you continue to support Jamaica Zoo. We have always been and will continue to be a safe place for you and your family to visit.’ 

MailOnline has contacted Jamaica Zoo for comment.  

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