Drunk Indian man discovers that tigers bite

A white tiger at the Nehru Zoological Park wrenched the right hand of a visitor when he thrust it into the animal’s enclosure on Wednesday evening. The incident happened when P Ramesh, 25, a daily wager hailing from Palakollu in East Godavari, in an inebriated state tried to feed the animal at around 6 pm when all the animal enclosures were closed for the day.

Ramesh lost the muscles on his right hand from forearm almost up to the shoulder and also suffered scratches on his face. He was rushed to Osmania General Hospital where doctors shifted him to the ICU immediately. His condition is said to be stable.

Zoo officials said that Ramesh was in an inebriated state and trespassed into the restricted area.


Photo from here.

“It is a serious case of intrusion. He was in an inebriated condition and put his right hand into the cage which the tiger grabbed. When we questioned him as to why he put his hand inside, he said he wanted to feed the tiger but there was nothing in his hand. The act is an offence under the Wild Life Act,” a senior zoo official said.

The ticket counter at the zoo closes at 5 pm, and by 5.30 pm all the animal enclosures are closed for the day. Subsequently, animal keepers too leave for the day. “While we maintain the timings strictly, visitors stay back even after the closure time, and our security team has a tough time chasing them away in the sprawling 380-acre park,” the official said.

“We will register a case against him if zoo authorities lodge a formal complaint for trespassing,” Bahadurpura Inspector K Chakrapani told said.