An Uzbek zookeeper tragically lost his life after going into the lion’s enclosure at a private zoo to film himself petting the large felines only to get mauled by them.

On December 17, 44-year-old F. Iriskulov was working the night shift at a private zoo in Parkent, Uzbekistan, when he decided to impress his fiancee by filming himself going into the lions’ enclosure to pet three full-grown African felines. A short clip retrieved from the man’s phone shows him unlocking the lion’s cage and casually walking in while talking to the lions and addressing them by name. At one one point, the felines, which had been lounging on wooden pallets, become alert and approach the zoo keeper who continues to film, seemingly unaware of the danger he is in. The video cuts off with Iriskulov screaming as one of the lions attacks him.

Photo: Stephanie Le Blanc/Unsplash

F. Iriskulov’s partially eaten remains were found four hours after the tragic incident, and the zoo confirmed that one of the lions had to be shot and the other two tranquilized after escaping the enclosure left unlocked by the zookeeper.

The 44-year-old man was reportedly an experienced lion handler, but Uzbek media reported that he came up with the idea of filming himself entering the felines’ cage as a way to impress his girlfriend.

Interestingly, for some reason, regional police reported the incident in a very different manner, suggesting that the lions had escaped their enclosure and attacked the zoo keeper in the yard, although a video doing the rounds on X these days clearly shows him unlocking their cage and petting the big cats, urging them to ‘be quiet’.

“Today, December 17, three lions kept in a single cage at the Lion Park private zoo, located in the Parkent district of Tashkent Region, escaped into the zoo’s courtyard,” the police statement read. “The lions entered the yard, attacking and injuring a 44-year-old keeper born in 1980. Unfortunately, the keeper later died from his injuries.”