Lions Eat Teen in Safari Park

Pakistan teen had gone out to cut grass for cattle fodder
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 27, 2020 3:19 AM CST
Teen's Body Found in Zoo's Lion Enclosure
A pair of lions at the Lahore Safari Park.   (Wikipedia/Farhad4368)

A teenager in Pakistan who went out to cut grass for cattle fodder ended up being eaten by lions in a safari park, authorities say. The remains of 17-year-old Muhammed Bilal were found Wednesday in the lion enclosure at Lahore Safari, the BBC reports. The teen, who lived in a nearby village and sometimes did odd jobs at the zoo, disappeared Monday. "We found his clothes in the lion enclosure and then later came across the skull and bones when workers went to feed the animals," Chaudhry Shafqat, deputy director of the Lahore Safari Park, tells AFP.

Officials believe the teenager must have climbed a 12-foot fence to cut grass from the rear of the lion enclosure. "We kept searching for him at all possible places. We then thought of visiting the safari on the likelihood of finding some clue to his whereabouts," the boy's father tells Dawn. "But to our utter shock, we found the remains of our beloved son. I have six children—three daughters and three boys—and Bilal was the eldest," he says. The father says Muhammed was mentally stable and left home in a "cheerful mood" Monday. (More Pakistan stories.)

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