Lion mauls keeper to death after escaping cage before being shot at centre

The lion was being kept as part of a private collection at a tourist centre, and the keeper was found dead outside the animal’s cage after it managed to escape

A lion has been shot dead after escaping from its cage and mauling its keeper to death in Guatemala.

The 20-year-old big cat was being kept at the Saint Elizabeth Tourist Centre in El Chal when attack happened on November 20.

The keeper, named as 33-year-old Santos Esquivel Najera, was found dead outside the cage.

The lion was registered to Walter Obdulio Mendoza Mata, who was jailed in 2019, and was part of a private collection of animals at the tourist centre.

The big cat escaped and officers of the National Civil Police (PNC) subsequently shot the lion dead.

The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance confirmed that they are investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, the victim’s family has announced that they plan to take legal action against the tourist centre.

According to the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), the lion was registered by Walter Obdulio Mendoza Mata in 2006.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2019 for intimidating farmers to abandon their lands in the departments of Izabal and Peten.

He used armed gangs to force villagers from their fields before claiming ownership through notaries.

The animal rights group Guate Unida por los Animales has called on the local authorities to investigate the other animals at the tourist centre, adding that the government should take a tough stand on caging animals in zoos and circuses like in Costa Rica.

The group also slammed the killing of “an innocent animal” following the lion’s escape.

The investigation continues.