WATCH disturbing video of a zookeeper who filmed his final moments before being mauled to death by a group of lions.
The animal keeper, locally named F. Iriskulov, 44, filmed himself entering the cage to “impress his girlfriend” in Lion Park, Uzbekistan.
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The night worker records himself opening a padlock on the premises at five in the morning.
At first the lions are not bothered and remain lying in a corner, watching the reckless guardian.
The man incites the beasts, repeatedly calling them “Simba.”
Suddenly, when Iriskulov gets too close, they jump and he jumps back in surprise, but they still don’t attack.
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Instead of escaping the cage at this point, the man continues talking to the lions and tells them, “Simba, shut up.”
The three lions, clearly agitated, are all on their feet, pacing the room and sniffing the man.
The camera focuses on the condemned man’s face for a moment, before returning to the lions.
Finally, after two minutes, one of the lions can be seen grabbing the arm of the man, who screams in pain.
At this point, the phone falls to the ground, but the man’s bloodcurdling screams can be heard along with the lion’s low growl as he climbs into it.
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The man keeps shouting “Shut up, shut up,” but the lions are not intimidated.
The footage then cuts away, but the three lions reportedly killed the man and devoured him.
Photos of what happened, too graphic to publish, show severely mutilated parts of the man’s body.
When other zoo workers arrived four hours later in the morning, they found Iriskulov’s gruesome remains in the cage and the three lions loose.
Staff tranquilized two of the creatures so they could be recaptured, but the third had to be shot to death.
The park reported the incident to the police and environmental authorities who arrived at the scene and opened an investigation.
The mutilated corpse was sent for examination.
An official statement from the zoo said: “The lions killed him and partially consumed his body.”
Lion Park opened in May 2019 and is home to several animals, including a brown bar, eagles, 10 African lions and five cubs.
At the time, Uzbekistan’s Interior Department said in a statement: “As a result of the measures taken, the lions were returned to a special cage.
“No other people in the surrounding area were injured.
“At the moment there is no danger to the local population.”
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