Teen with dreams of lion taming mauled to death after climbing into enclosure at zoo

A -year-old man was mauled to death after climbing into a lion enclosure Sunday morning in Brazil Viral video captured the circumstance showing the victim scaling a roughly -foot-tall fence to enter the lioness s enclosure at Arruda C mara Zoobotanical Park known locally as Bica in Jo o Pessoa Para ba Local media Correio Braziliense identified the victim as Gerson de Melo Machado who has long aspired to be a lion tamer Machado reportedly had mental physical condition issues and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia The zoo certified in a comment that the individual deliberately entered the enclosure was attacked by the animal and did not survive his injuries RISING CLIMBING STAR PLUNGES TO DEATH FROM YOSEMITE'S EL CAPITAN MID-LIVESTREAM The Arruda C mara Zoobotanical Park Bica deeply regrets what happened this Sunday morning when a man deliberately invaded the lioness's enclosure resulting in his death the zoo explained in a announcement on social media Sunday This is an extremely sad episode for everyone and we express our solidarity and condolences to the family and friends of the man In the video eyewitnesses watched in horror as the teen climbed the towering fence and shimmied down a nearby tree A lion in the enclosure spotted him prowled to the base of the tree and waited as he continued his descent When the boy got close enough to the ground the lion sprang on him He tried to flee disappearing into the bushes and briefly reappearing during his escape only to be leapt on again by the lioness The mauling then continued out of view behind a wall MAN CAUGHT ON CAMERA APPROACHING SPRAYING UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE TOWARD YELLOWSTONE WOLVES RANGERSFollowing the event the park was closed to allow for safety procedures and the removal of the body The zoo stated that Bica will remain closed to visitors until the probe and all official procedures are complete Machado had struggled with mental robustness issues throughout his life and his mother had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia according to Correio which cited child welfare counselor Ver nica Oliveira who had been monitoring him since childhood Oliveira reported the outlet that Machado had constantly dreamed of traveling to Africa to become a lion tamer and was once caught hiding in the landing gear of a plane believing it would take him there The zoo stated it does not plan to euthanize the lion emphasizing that the killing resulted from deliberate trespassing an event that was thoroughly unpredictable and outside of any scenario within the park s routine The lion is reportedly stressed but shows no signs of behavior that would warrant concern for euthanasia It is pivotal to emphasize that euthanasia was never considered the zoo explained Leona is healthy does not exhibit aggressive behavior outside the context of the matter and will not be euthanized