A resident of Najaf, southern Iraq has been mauled to death and eaten by his pet lion just days after buying it to keep in his back garden.
The victim, 50-year-old Aqil Fakhr al-Din was horrifically attacked by the predator before it consumed most of his body on Thursday, May 8.
“Today in a garden in the city of Kufa in Najaf, a citizen was attacked by a lion in his own garden and died immediately,” Mufid Tahir, spokesperson for the Najaf Police, told local news site Rudaw.
He added that the lion had to be k!lled because it had eaten a large portion of the man’s body, and refused to leave the remains.
The victim had reportedly been keeping lions and other wild animals in his garden for several years, according to Tahir.
But on Thursday, the predator launched a surprise attack on its trainer before ferociously mauling him to death and devouring him.
One of the victim’s neighbours reportedly intervened and shot the lion with a Kalashnikov rifle, killing it with seven bullets, as per local TV reports.
The mans was immediately transferred to Al-Sadr Medical City Hospital in Najaf but did not survive due to the extent of his injuries.
Grisly images showed the man covered in blood as he laid on a hospital bed and an official investigation has also reportedly been opened into the circumstances of the incident.
A clip of the dead lion in the garden is also making rounds on social media, raising concerns about how al-Din was able to keep the wild animal on his property.
According to local reports, the victim had purchased the lion just days before the tragedy, with the intention of raising and taming it at home.
