Man found dead at zoo after big cat seen ‘holding a shoe in its mouth’

A man in Pakistan was found dead after zoo staff saw that a big cat had a shoe in its mouth.

The incident happened Wednesday at Bahawalpur’s Sherbagh Zoo, which is located in the Punjab province, according to CBS News.

Zaheer Anwar, a government official, told media outlets that zoo staff were cleaning when they made the gruesome discovery.

‘When they cleaned the zoo and the dens, they found the (animal) holding a shoe in its mouth,’ Anwar said.

When staff at the zoo went to check the big cat’s den, a body was found.

‘The staff got suspicious and then they found a body inside the den,’ he added.

The government official said they believe the individual possibly jumped into the big cat’s den.

‘Our assessment so far is that this appears to be a lunatic, because a sensible person would not jump into the den,’ Anwar said. ‘You can see that the den is secured. There are stairs behind the den, maybe he jumped from there.’

One rescue worker who goes by Zafarullah, told media outlets that the victim’s legs looked like they were heavily mauled.

‘It is yet not known who he is and how he got there. It is being investigated. The body looked several hours old,’ Zafarullah said.

The government official described the big cat with a word that can mean a tiger or leopard in Pakistan.