Zookeeper mauled to death by lion after he forgot to lock enclosure

A zookeeper has been mauled to death by a lion after he forgot to lock up its enclosure properly.

28-year-old Gustavo Serrano Carabajal, 28, was cleaning out the lion’s cage but forgot to properly lock the gate to the animal’s enclosure when he was done.

The lion then managed to open it and attacked Gustavo Serrano Carabaja.


The 22 year old male lion named Kimba, pounced on Gustavo before biting down hard on his neck.

According to reports, other workers found Carbajal’s body in the enclosure of the lion, at the Nicolas Bravo zoo in Tulancingo, in Hidalgo, Mexico and called for help.

Tragically, Carabajal was already dead before the emergency services got there.

The local councillor for Tulancingo, Fernandez Perez Romero, told reporters the lion would not be put down despite killing the zookeeper.

Romero said authorities would work to reinforce safety measures when working with animals in captivity.

He also said the local council will work to support the victim’s family.


The victim’s family have not commented on the accident.

Back in February 2018, here in Nigeria, a lion broke out of its cage in the popular Gamji Gate amusement park in Kaduna city, attacked and mauled to death his keeper in the same way.

The now late zookeeper identified as Mr. Mustapha Adam had died after he was mauled by the lion in Gamji Gate amusement park in Kaduna.

According to a post shared on Facebook, the lion broke out of his cage, attacked and wounded Mr Adam on his neck.

Mr Adam was admitted to hospital, where he died of his wounds hours later.


Authorities say the lion was lured back into its cage after the attack.