Thiruvananthapuram: Authorities felicitate the ‘literal lions’ of zoo

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The team of zookeepers who swung into action when a mentally-ill man jumped into the open enclosure of a lioness in the Thiruvananthapuram zoo on Wednesday was felicitated by the zoo authorities the next day.

The team comprising supervisor Radhakrishnan C and ten zookeepers were felicitated at a meeting convened in Museum auditorium on Thursday.  Permanent zookeeper Retheesh R and daily wage keepers Arshad A, Shaiju G, Rajeev M, Udayalal, Arun T S, Baiju V R, Kiran Babu B, Saji A S, and Madhu K were involved in rescuing Murugan who entered the enclosure of Gracy, the two-and-a-half-year-old lioness narrated their experiences at the function.

“A meeting will be convened soon to review the security arrangements in the light of the incident and suggest changes to beef up security,” zoo director Gangadharan K told Express. “We also plan to deploy more security personnel in the zoo. The cash prize declared for the keepers will be handed over the next month,” he said.

Forest Minister K Raju had visited the zoo after the incident and declared that the keepers would be rewarded. A reward of `1000 to the daily wagers and a good service entry to the permanent staff were announced on Wednesday.

It is learnt that a suggestion to recommend the zookeepers who risked their lives for the bravery awards also came up in the meeting. The zoo director said he would look into the formalities and their names would be recommended for the same after looking into the provisions.

Following the incident, the small open space at the end of the iron barricade ringing the open enclosure of the lioness was closed. “The area which is off limits to visitors is used by the keepers to enter the enclosure. Following the incident, it was closed yesterday itself. A seven-foot high barricade was installed,” said the zoo director.

The incident had the zoo premises on tenterhooks sometime after 11 am when a man jumped into the open enclosure of a lioness and crawled his way towards the big cat. The presence of mind shown by the zookeepers saved the intruder, who showed signs of mental instability.

The man jumped into the 15-foot trench and crawled his way towards Gracy, a two-and-a-half-year-old lioness.

The man, identified as A Murugan, ambled up the small stretch on all fours towards the lioness. A guard who saw the man jump into the trench immediately alerted zoo superintendent T V Anilkumar. Following this, the zoo supervisor and a team of 12 keepers entered the enclosure and tackled Murugan and dragged him out of danger.

Rs 1000 for saving a man from lion’s den?

Following Forest Minister K Raju’s announcement to reward the daring act of zoo keepers, many eyebrows were raised wondering if the daily wagers have been given their due by merely offering them a cash prize of H1,000.  The team which jumped into the lion’s enclosure comprised nine daily wagers. Only the supervisor and one of the keepers are permanent staff. The permanent staff will be given good service entry while H1000 will be given to the daily wagers.“Some of the daily wagers have been working here for the past several years and their plight is deplorable. Had something happened to them, they might not have even received any compensation as they are daily wagers,” said one of the zoo officers.