Lion eats worker after escaping from eastern Ethiopia park

September 21, 2008 (ADDIS ABABA) – A stray lion ate an Ethiopian worker after escaping from a game park located in the eastern part of the country, the police said today.

Ethiopian police Commander Demsash Hailu Sunday said that a staff at the Metehara sugar factory in Oromia region had ventured into a cane plantation to search a missing worker when they discovered the tragic fate of the worker.

“They came upon a lion and the field was soaked with blood,” the police officer told Reuters.

He further said that they only found the head of the missing man while the lion escaped.

The police suspect the lion had escaped from the Awash Game Park, 225 km east of the capital Addis Ababa.

The Abyssinian Lion, which is Ethiopia’s national symbol, is distinguished by its small size and the male’s black mane.

However, the lions suffer from the bad conditions in the Ethiopian parks. In November 2006 it was revealed that a number of lion cubs are poisoned on regular basis due to the lack of space and money to look after them.

(ST)