Main points
- In the Taigan Safari Park in Sevastopol, lions attacked owner Oleg Zubkov, causing him serious injuries to his neck, lungs and head.
- After the attack, Zubkov was hospitalized, connected to a ventilator, and doctors are performing an emergency operation due to his critical condition.
- Zubkov had previously refused to euthanize the aggressive lions that killed a park worker and continued to breed them.
In the Taigan Safari Park, which is located in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, lions attacked the owner Oleg Zubkov. As a result, he received serious injuries, doctors are fighting for his life.
This is reported by 24 Kanal with reference to Russian media. Oleg Zubkov is known as a local collaborator.
Lions Injure Director of Sevastopol Zoo
A video has been circulated online showing a lion attacking a person in the Taigan Safari Park. It turned out that the injuries were sustained by its owner, Oleg Zubkov. The killer lions that mauled park employee Leokadia Perevalova last year have behaved aggressively again. After that incident, Zubkov refused to euthanize the animals. He decided to breed lions in the future.
It is known that the wild cats almost tore Oleg Zubkov apart. They bit his throat, as a result of which the man received injuries to his neck, lungs and head. The zoo director was immediately hospitalized.
Zubkov went alone to feed the lions. At that moment, a lion attacked him, grabbed him by the throat. Mustafa, a worker at the photo zones in the park, did not call an ambulance, they personally took him to the hospital, because they were afraid that by the time the ambulance arrived, he would already be dead, – said blogger Sergey Marchenko, who lived in the park.
A visitor to Taigan said that she saw the first seconds after the attack on Oleg Zubkov. According to her, his entire body was covered in blood. After the zoo director was pulled out of the enclosure, he lost consciousness.
Warning, video 18+! It may shock viewers, but there are no violent scenes in the recording.
Eyewitnesses captured the moment lions attacked Zubkov: video
Trainer Edgard Zapashny reported that Zubkov was connected to a ventilator because he was having difficulty breathing due to damage to his trachea. Doctors say that the man is in serious, almost critical, condition. He is undergoing emergency surgery at the Belogorsk hospital.
Investigators are conducting an inspection of the place where the lion attacked the man. They will also review surveillance cameras to establish all the details of the incident.
Lions are quite dangerous animals for humans. Even when not in the wild, they can attack and cause serious injuries. However, there are also happy accidents. For example, in 2024, in Ireland, an intern was accidentally locked in an enclosure with Barbary lions. Then he was lucky and the animals did not cause him serious harm. But after this incident, the zoo began to take a more responsible approach to caring for the lions.
