Man buys lion as pet for back garden but there's a horrific outcome
Aqil Fakhr al-Din, 50, from Iraq, was killed by a lion he had just brought as a pet and had planned to tame. The animal was shot after it refused to let go of his body
A man was savaged to death by his pet lion just days after purchasing the animal and homing it in his back garden.
Aqil Fakhr al-Din, was mauled by the beast before it feasted on most of his body. According to local media, the 50-year-old had been keeping pet lions and other wild animals for several years and had planned to tame the predator over time at his home in city of Najaf in Iraq.
Mufid Tahir, spokesperson for the Najaf Police, explained what happened to the owner. He said: "Today in a garden in the city of Kufa in Najaf, a citizen was attacked by a lion in his own garden and died immediately.
'The lion had eaten a large portion of the man's body, and because the lion refused to leave the remains, we were forced to shoot and kill it." According to reports, one of the victim's neighbours attempted to save him and shot the lion with a Kalashnikov rifle. The neighbour is said to have gunned down the animal using seven bullets.
The owner was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead after the nightmare attack. Shocking pictures showed the bloodied victim lifeless in a hospital bed after the incident.
Footage has also captured the aftermath from the scene, with the lion spotted dead in the garden. Police told the Rudaw news network that they ensured the lion was actually dead after the shooting, so they could retrieve any remains.
The incident has prompted concerns over wildlife trafficking. It comes despite laws being put in place to protect animals from such acts. The Convention on the Protection of Animals was introduced in 2014 to help regulate global wildlife trade. Despite this illegal trafficking is still an ongoing issue in the country.
Last year, a zoo keeper was mauled by a pack of lions in Uzbekistan. The man, named locally as F. Iriskulov, 44, recorded his final moments as the beasts pounced on him, reports The Sun.
The incident happened at Lion Park - a zoo which had been open since May 2019. Three lions mauled him after he appeared to goad the animals inside the cage and kept telling them to "be quiet'. The zoo released a statement at the time which said: 'The lions killed him and partially consumed his body.'
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