Lion was killed because we don’t have tranquilizers -Park official

The management of Jos Wild Life Park in Plateau State yesterday said they invited soldiers to kill the 43-year old lion which strayed away from its cage Wednesday because they had no tranquilizers to sedate the animal.
“We don’t have tranquilizers. We don’t have the licence to buy tranquilizers. We applied for licence, but we were not given,” John Doy, General Manager of the park, told Daily Trust yesterday.
“So, instead of allowing the animal to devour people, we had to invite the STF (Special Task Force) to do away with it”, he added.
He said the park needed to fulfil certain conditions to pick the special drug from chemical stores, one of which is a licence from NAFDAC, but he said the agency denied the park the document.
The lion was stepping out of its confinement for the first time since 1972, Mr. Doy said.
It escaped into the perimeters of the unfenced park along Joseph Gomwolk Way when attendants opened its cage at about 8am to feed it and its mate, a lioness.
It was shot at about 2pm, about seven hours after escaping, the manager said, adding that it was already showing signs of aggression at the time the soldiers took position.
Doy said the lion attacked and killed a goat not too far from its cage after the escape and was returning, possibly to drink water when a soldier opened fire.
“The animal was actually returning to its cage after it attacked and ate up a goat not too far  from its cage. You know it was born there, so that cage had become its habitat, and it was not used to any other place. So it was actually heading back to the cage, maybe to drink water, or meet the lioness. Maybe the soldier; you know, from fear, decided to shoot at the animal, we can’t say,” he said.
“But the animal was not dead at that time, it had to run away. It was at about past 2pm that it was killed,” he said.
He declined giving details on the shooting, but said the lion had a gunshot wound on its chest.
He expressed concern that an animal which was born and bred in the park would be killed because it escaped confinement, regretting that there was no plan because of the absence of tranquilizing drugs.
“Now, we are learning. We hope to improve from this incident. We hope to make a difference,” Doy said.
Spokesman of the STF, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, told Daily Trust that the STF acted to save lives, although he admitted: “Our men would have loved to handle the situation differently.”