Who is to blame for the death of the man mauled by lions at Accra Zoo?

It’s a question that begs for answers. In the news on Sunday evening, the sad, disturbing news broke.

A man was reported to have been mauled by lions at the Accra Zoo, located inside the Achimota Forest Reserve.

The man who has been described as an intruder is said to have jumped the security fences at a section of the facility housing a lion, a lioness and their 2 cubs and entered.

He was found later by officials at the Zoo with his throat in the mouth of one of the lions with other parts of his body all intact and untouched.

Although the Forestry Ministry says the intent for his actions is yet to be determined, many have suggested he was seeking to steal the cubs.

The Forestry Ministry has also been speaking to the media and clarifying issues surrounding the rather bizarre incident but the question of what caused this remains.

While the police have launched a formal investigation into the cause of the incident, it appears the deceased has already been pronounced guilty in the court of public opinion.

Perhaps, it may have been an action spurred by the victim for unknown reasons but what if there could have been external factors and measures which could have stopped such an incident from occurring or reduced the consequences which in this case was death?

In this piece, GhanaWeb looks at what could possibly have contributed to the occurrence of the incident directly or indirectly.

Recklessness on the part of the intruder:

Whatever his reasons were – one thing is clear; it definitely was a terrible decision on his part.

Lions are obviously caged for a reason – they are dangerous, and unless it is a Daniel situation like where God made the lions kowtow, death is what will await anyone who dares near them.

This yet-to-be-identified man is the first and biggest cause of his own woes. While investigators are yet to determine the true reasons for his actions, many theories have emerged.

The first is a suggestion that he wanted to steal a cub.

The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, who was at the scene of the incident, mentioned this as a possible reason the man came there.

This is ridiculous if that was the case because even without an attempt to steal its cherished baby, a lion will defend itself. How much more when an intruder has dared to touch the pride of the lion from a secured area with an inner wall – 20 ft high?

The 2nd suggestion given by the deputy minister was that the middle-aged man may have been trying to satisfy a death wish – something that has not been substantiated in any of the reports shared so far.

The 3rd was a suggestion that he may have been one of the persons who visit the forest to pray, attempting to re-enact the Daniel story from the Bible.

Forestry commission for inadequate checks and personnel?

Yes, the Forestry Commission has confidently said all security checks and measures are in place to safeguard users and visitors of the zoo.

They have also indicated that a visitor would have used the routine way into the zoo and would have been guided by a tourist guide who will not only ensure their safety but also be in a position to deal with any eventualities if any occurred.

For this reason, they are emphatic that it was not a case of a security lapse despite the absence of security cameras which they say will be available after renovation.

Nevertheless, the worrying question is would this incident have been averted if there were enough guides or staff available for patrolling to be able to detect when the man intruded?

In an interview with Citi News, the Head of Corporate Affairs and Media Relations at the Forestry Commission, Joyce Ofori Kwafo said that the facility currently lacks enough personnel to do patrolling.

According to her, the staff in charge of patrolling the zoo are available all through the day, they are not enough to patrol the zoo at all times within a day in addition to their other patrolling duties in other parts of the Achimota forest enclave.

“We so much rely on our patrol team because they don’t sleep.

Achimota forest is big. Apart from the Accra Zoo, there are other issues so we are there 24/7, patrolling but because we can’t be at one place 24/7, that’s why this incident happened behind us,” she said.

Adding that perhaps, the unfortunate incident could have been avoided if the commission had the adequate human capacity to man the facility.

“We are just making use of the few staff members that we have to do all the work. Look at how big the Achimota Forest is. The zoo alone is about 19 hectares, and we have just a handful of men who go around doing the normal patrols. We are also trying to make good use of the little resources that we have. We need more staff, not only security guards, to do the work. In as much as we try to use technology, it is still not enough because the numbers are just inadequate,” Madam Ofori Kwafo said.

Govt for not providing enough resources for the zoo?

This brings us to the lapses in the system that may have played a role in the incident that occurred.

The Forestry Commission is under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources which is a governmental institution.

The admission to lack of resources on the part of the forestry commission raises concerns about how much the government is doing to empower the facility.

Without the necessary resources, the commission cannot adequately operate and these resources can only be provided by the government through the ministry.

Though Head of Corporate Affairs and Media Relations at the Forestry Commission, Joyce Ofori Kwafo indicated that there are plans to renovate the place, to make space for the provision of more security measures including CCTVs among others, it remains unknown whether or not these measures will come with the recruitment of more personnel to man the place and ensure better surveillance.