A zoo caretaker was mauled to death by a tiger who was recovering from dysentary at Shivarama Karanth Pilikula biological park in Vamanjoor on Tuesday night.
Kushalappa Gowda (36), a resident of Kelinja near Vittal in Bantwal taluk, was found in a pool of blood by the zoo staff.
According to another zoo caretaker Santhosh Kumar, Kushalappa who was last seen stepping out to feed animals at 9.30 pm would have attempted to feed the ailing tiger Raja all alone. “We saw him lying inside the cage and tiger Raja strolling outside the gate,” he said.
Kushalappa, who was known as ‘Pili Kushalappa’ (tiger Kushalappa) among his colleagues for the ease he displayed in feeding the big cats, had deep wounds inflicted on the back.
It took more than an hour to remove Kushalappa’s body from the cage because the staff had to ensure that tigers were nowhere near the body, Santhosh said.
Denying allegations that the tiger was being starved, the zoo caretakers suspect that Raja had not recognised the caretaker as it was night.
“The wild animals were friendly with him (Kushalappa) and he could caress them freely,” Santosh recalled.
Kushalappa, was the main bread winner in his family and was in debt due to loans he took for his sisters wedding. His father Shivappa Gowda was bed-ridden with age-related diseases and his mother Revathi continues to roll beedi in order to add supplement to the family income.
Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Biological park director H Jayaprakash Bhandary informed that all steps would be taken to compensate the loss for Kushalappa’s family. He said there had been no previous complaints of attack by the tiger Raja. Kavoor police registered an unnatural death case following as complaint lodged by victim’s friend Santhosh Kumar.
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