Two lions shot dead in Chile zoo after suicidal man jumps into den

A zoo in Santiago, Chile said it was forced to shoot and kill two lions on Saturday to protect a suicidal man who had entered their cage naked in front of aghast visitors. Security protocols kicked in immediately when staff saw the man, later identified as Franco Luis Ferrada, climb down with a rope into the African lions’ enclosure, the head of Santiago Zoo, Alejandra Montalva, told television network TVN.
“The alarms sounded and chemical control arrived (tranquilizer darts) and an independent shooter arrived. The shooter decided to save the life of the person and unfortunately we had to sacrifice two members of our family,” she said.

“The zoo has an established protocol because people’s lives are very important to us,” said Montalba, adding she was “deeply affected” by the deaths of the two lions, a male and a female.
Montalba said the carnivorous felines instinctively attacked the man and that staff had no choice but to put the animals down as oppose to using sleep inducing anesthetic darts.
“We’re shaken by this because the animals in the zoo are part of our family,” Montalva said. “These were lions that had been with us for more than 20 years.”
Ferrada, 20, climbed atop the roof of the lion pen, then forced his way into the cage however the lions initially ignored his presence in the cage, according to witnesses.
After taunting them the animals launched an attack on the man but zookeepers responded speedily, first by turning a hose on the animals, then by firing a tranquilizer dart but hit the man in the neck instead of the lions. As the lions set upon the man, a zookeeper opened fire with live rounds. Ferrada was taken to a local health clinic with critical injuries to his pelvis and head.