Zookeeper mauled to death by lion he had raised since birth in horror attack as he left gate open while feeding beast

A ZOOKEEPER has been mauled to death by a lion in a horrifying attack after he left open the gate while feeding the beast.

Olabode Olawuyi from Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University had raised the animal since birth.

AFP or licensors

A man has been mauled to death by a lion at a zoo[/caption]

Olawuyi was attacked as he was feeding the lions, the university said in a statement.

His colleagues were unable to save him as one of the lions had already fatally wounded him, the university added.

The lion has since been put down.

Mr Olawuyi, a veterinary technologist, had been “taking care of the lions since they were born on campus about nine years ago”.

“But, tragically, the male lion killed the man who had been feeding them,” the university’s spokesman, Abiodun Olarewaju, said.

“We never knew what came over the male lion that it had to attack [him],” he added.