Half-eaten body is found in tiger cage at Pakistan zoo after staff spot victim's SHOE in giant cat's mouth

A half-eaten body has been found in a tiger cage at a Pakistan zoo after staff spotted the victim’s shoe in a giant cat’s mouth.

The body was found at the Sherbagh Zoo in Bahawalpur, in the eastern province of Punjab, after staff spotted the mauled shoe in the mouth of one of the four tigers reportedly living in the enclosure.

‘When they cleaned the zoo and the dens, they found the (animal) holding a shoe in its mouth,’ Zaheer Anwar, a senior government official in Bahawalpur, told media outlets.

‘The staff got suspicious and then they found a body inside the den,’ he said.

Anwar described the big cat using a word that in Pakistan can mean tiger or leopard, and both are believed to be housed inside the zoo, but local media reports identified the big cat as a tiger.

‘Our assessment so far is that this appears to be a lunatic, because a sensible person would not jump into the den,’ Anwar said.

‘You can see that the den is secured. There are stairs behind the den, maybe he jumped from there. (The) staff are all accounted for.’

Zafarullah, an official of the rescue service 1122 in Bahawalpur, said the victim’s legs had been heavily mauled.

‘It is yet not known who he is and how he got there. It is being investigated. The body looked several hours old,’ said Zafarullah, who goes by one name.

He added that forensic experts were examining the body.

The zoo is run by Punjab’s wildlife department, according to its website, and costs adults 50 rupees (50 pence) to enter. The department has not commented on the incident.

Pakistan’s zoos are frequently accused of disregarding animal welfare.

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This article by Miriam Kuepper was first published by The Daily Mail on 7 December 2023. Lead Image: The body was found at the Sherbagh Zoo in Bahawalpur, in the eastern province of Punjab, after staff spotted the mauled shoe in the mouth of one of the four tigers reportedly living in the enclosure (file image of a tiger).