Man 'mauled to death by secret pet lion he kept in his back garden'

Bonnie Christian6 March 2019

A man has been mauled to death by a pet lion he secretly kept in his backyard in a village in eastern Czech Republic, police have said.

Michael Prasek owned the nine-year-old lion and a lioness for breeding, and kept them in an enclosure on his property, authorities said.

Police said they were called to the site in Zdechov on Tuesday, where they found two lions in an enclosure with the body of a man.

After assessing the situation with experts from a nearby zoo, they shot dead the lion that killed the man, as well as a lioness.

Police said the victim of the attack was the 33-year-old owner of the lions.

Mr Prasek, 33, bought the lion in 2016 and the lioness last year, and kept them both in home-made enclosures in his back yard in the village of Zdechov.

Veterinary authorities said the man was in the past denied permission to keep lions.

But his conflict with the authorities reached a stalemate after he refused to let anyone onto his property.

World Animal Protection, an animal welfare organisation, said the tragic event was an example "why wild animals such as big cats, are absolutely not to be kept as pets".

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