Hippo Kills Cleaner in Lucknow Zoo

Lucknow: An employee at Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden in Lucknow was killed by a hippopotamus on Monday. The deceased was involved in his regular cleaning work at the hippopotamus enclosure of the zoo when he faced the hippo attack.

It is suspected that the ill-fated man did not lock up the animal before taking up the cleaning work. The injured cleaner was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died.

The cleaner has been working in the zoo for the last 10 years. He along with a colleague entered the hippo enclosure after shifting the animal to a cell, as per the protocol. They were trained for feeding and cleaning. The cleaner’s colleague managed to escape.

The zoo authorities have ordered for a detailed inquiry to find what went wrong. The animal enclosures are cleaned on Mondays when the zoo remains closed to visitors.