A 34-year-old man has been killed by his privately owned lion in the Czech Republic, news agency CTK reported on Tuesday.
The roughly eight-year-old lion and a lioness, who was pregnant and being held in the same cage, were shot dead by police during the incident in the small eastern village of Zdechov.
“That was absolutely necessary so that rescue services could get to the man,’’ a police spokeswoman said.
The Czech Republic has a whole series of so-called “zoo parks’’ or “nature parks,’’ where big cats often live in poor conditions.
According to the Environment Ministry in Prague, there are 44 lions, 49 pumas, 20 tigers, 15 ocelots and eight leopards being held in these private zoos.
The lion owner had made headlines last summer when he was walking his lioness on a leash down a forest path.
Meanwhile, another man on a mountain bike was injured in an incident with the lioness.
Police classified the event as a traffic accident.
