Lion kills zoo worker after cage left open

A LIONESS sprang at a worker on a rural conservation farm and killed him, apparently because security gates were left open, Johannesburg Zoo said yesterday.

Colleagues heard Joe Ramonetha, 63, screaming and rushed to help, but it was too late, said zoo spokeswoman Letta Madlala. He was declared dead on arrival at hospital, she said.

Mr Ramonetha had been feeding the 11-year-old lioness on the zoo’s conservation farm in Parys, about 75 miles from Johannesburg when the attack happened on Monday, Ms Madlala said. Mr Ramonetha suffered a fatal bite wound to the neck.

The zoo’s executive manager, Louise Gordon, said: “It was evident that a terrible accident had occurred – gates were left open. The incident thus occurred due to human error.”

She added that there had not been a fatal animal attack at the zoo in 50 years.

And she said zoo managers would now meet to decide the fate of the lioness, called Nyanga.

South Africa has about 4,000 lions in captivity.