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Those who deal with wild animals understand that they must take utmost precaution at all times, but one Indian man lost his life after failing to do so.
Just one week into his new zookeeper gig, Anjaneya Anji was mauled to death by two white tiger cubs in the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore, India, over the weekend.
According to the Times of India, the 41-year-old man was going through his daily chore of placing meat inside the animals’ enclosure when he did not notice that the cubs Vanya and Jhansi Rani were close by.
One of the cubs reportedly attacked the keeper and bit him on the neck, while the second one violently followed suit.
The zookeeper’s dreaded screams made matters worse, as they attracted the other tigers inside the enclosure, which also dragged him around and bit him mercilessly.
Another zookeeper was with Anji during the time of the attack, but luckily escaped the wrath of the felines.
Before accepting the job as a zoo keeper, Anji worked as a security guard and had no prior experience in handling animals, the report said.
Indian authorities, meanwhile, ruled the incident as a case of unnatural death due to a complaint by park authorities.
“Since a police investigation is on, it is not fair on my part to give any reason behind Anji’s death,” the park’s Executive Director Santos Kumar was quoted as saying in the report.
Anji is survived by his wife and two children. Khristian Ibarrola /ra
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