Fatal Injuries from a Lion Attack

GODREKR · #1 ● 05-16-2023, 10:56 PM

We herein report an historical case of a fatal lion attack that took place in the Zoological Garden of Brno City, Czech Republic in 1973.

Case outline The wounded body of a 20-year-old male junior zoo worker was found lifeless in a lion enclosure in the Zoo-logical Garden during the morning hours. The circum-stances indicated that a 300 kg male lion named ''Omar'' had escaped from his enclosure, unexpectedly attacked his zookeeper in the outdoor compartment of the cave, and moved the zookeeper's collapsed body into the enclosure.

Investigation of the site of the fatality showed that the zookeeper had not complied with basic safety rules; he had left the door to the lion enclosure unlocked while cleaning the outdoor cage. Furthermore, coworkers confirmed that the zookeeper had expressed a desire to practice some training tricks and address the overall obedience of the lion while working alone.

A medicolegal autopsy was required by the police because of the nature of the fatality and unclear circumstances. Autopsy findings External examination revealed a well-nourished male body of medium build (height 186 cm; weight 75 kg). Multiple scattered scratches and tiny lacerations were present on the man's face. Linear lacerations up to 4 cm long were present on the left forehead and left cheek.

Additionally, an extensive laceration of the soft pericranial tissue was found in the right frontotemporal region with a 4 cm long groove on the exposed bone. The man's neck and trunk were wounded with multiple disseminated scratches, superficial lacerations, and puncture wounds (Figs. 1, 2, 3). His upper and lower limbs were covered in numerous abrasions and scratches from the lion claws. The right lower limb con-tained a large soft tissue defect on the inner region of the thigh (Fig. 4). The left lower limb contained lacerations in the left groin area and inner region of the thigh. The penis was partially amputated (Fig. 4).

Postmortem spots were almost absent. Internal examination revealed a fracture line of the right greater wing of the sphenoid bone. Dissection of the neck showed extensive hemorrhagic infiltration within the soft tis-sues of the right part of the neck with transection of the right common carotid artery. A threefold compound fracture of the cervical spine (between C5–C6, C6–C7, and C7–Th1) with dislocations of bone fragments into the spinal canal was also present. Multiple contusions of the cervical spine and foci of hemorrhage into the spinal subdural and subarachnoid spaces were found.

The left sixth to ninth ribs were serially fractured along the midclavicular line with hemorrhage into the adjacent intercostal muscles. The right eighth rib was fractured along the parasternal line. The result of the gas embolism test was negative. There were no signs of underlying organic disease. Histologic examination of the main organs confirmed the autopsy findings.