The video is the kind you instantly regret clicking. Just read about it and imagine the horror, if you must, because I don’t think your mental health will be improved by watching a young man get mauled to death by a lion, even if it’s 100 percent the young man’s fault.
As reported by Newsweek, 19-year-old Gerson de Melo Machado scaled a nearly 20-foot wall at a Brazilian zoo, dropped into a lion enclosure, and came face-to-face with a pack of lions who treated the spontaneous drop in the exact way you would imagine lions would. Onlookers could do nothing but watch as Machado was attacked by the lions and dragged out of sight.
The attack happened Sunday at the Arruda Câmara Zoo Botanical Park in the eastern city of João Pessoa. Officials confirmed Machado entered the pen by climbing the wall and shimmying down a tree, ignoring repeated warnings from bystanders who likely did not want to witness someone being mauled to death by lions that particular day. He ignored the pleas.
The zoo immediately shut down, and Brazil’s Environment Secretariat launched an investigation.
Local reporters added some much-needed context to Machado’s life, some of which paints a heartbreaking picture of a troubled young man who just wanted to be a little bit closer to the creatures he so admired.
Child protection worker Veronica Oliveira worked with Machado for eight years. She said that he had been battling mental health issues throughout that time and had developed an almost mythic fixation on lions. The obsession had grown so severe that at one point, Machado stowed away in the landing gear of airplanes in the hopes of traveling to Africa to see lions in person.
The zoo stressed that euthanizing the lion was never on the table. Staff say she is healthy, has no history of aggression, and is receiving specialized care after undergoing intense stress during the incident.
On Twitter/X, Brazilian politician and animal rights activist Matheus Laiola defended the lion, saying, “The blame is never on the animal. We need to reinforce respect and awareness when dealing with wildlife.”
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