By Violet Pereira, Team Mangalorean

Mangalore :  It is unbelievable but true. Kushalappa Gowda (36), the caretaker of tigers at the Pilikula zoo here was attacked by one of the tigers and fatally injured on Monday, July 31 around 11 pm. He succumbed to the injuries.

Tiger Raja was not well over the last 4 days and was under treatment.  On Monday night, Kushalappa went to the cell to check the condition of the tiger, without informing anyone. He entered the verandah gate. He also opened the tiger cell and entered it.  The tiger was confused and, perhaps having felt threatened, pounced on Kushalappa.  Then it ran into the verandah.

The watchman who was looking for Kushalappa who had gone to check the condition of the tiger could not find him.  When he found the tiger outside the cage, he informed the authorities about it.  It was very difficult to enter the cell as the tiger was free outside. After sometime the authorities succeeded in entering the cell.  They found Kushalappa lying in a pool of blood. 

He was rushed to the hospital but they declared him brought dead. 

Speaking to mangalorean.com H J Prakash Bhandary, wildlife director of Pilikula said that the body was taken to the Wenlock hospital for post mortem.  While expressing deep regret over the unfortunate incident, he said the employee had insurance support. His family will get Rs one lakh as compensation. Kushalappa was a bachelor, said Bhandary.