Zoo staff left horrified after visitor's half eaten body found in tiger cage

The horrifying discovery was made in Bahawalpur's Sherbagh Zoo in Pakistan.

Officials estimate that the man was mauled to death by tigers late Tuesday night.

Senior officer of the wildlife department Usman Bukhari said: "The autopsy report has not been released, however evidence gathered from the enclosure points towards him being alive when he was attacked by the tigers."

"The tigers did not go out of the den to attack the man, he jumped into their enclosure.

"If we find a security lapse, we will address it.

"If need be, we will hire private security guards."

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Senior local government official Zaheer Anwar said all staff had been accounted for.

Anwar said: "You can see the den is secured. There are stairs behind the den, maybe he jumped from there."

The three tigers present in the den when the body was found have been moved to a smaller space while evidence is collected.

The zoo dates back to 1942 when it was built by the ruling royal family of the former princely state of Bahawalpur and costs adults 14 pence to enter.

Zoos in Pakistan are frequently accused of disregarding animal welfare.

Earlier this year, the death of a 17-year-old elephant named Noor Jehan in Karachi led to outrage from international animal welfare , who said the Karachi zoo was not equipped to take care of elephants.

The African elephant, which have an average lifespan of 60 to 70 years, was already in poor health when she fell into a pond last month and was unable to get up. She later died.

Two lions died in Islamabad’s now closed zoo in 2020 while being transferred, and in 2021 a rare white lion died in Karachi.