Lion shot dead after escaping and killing handler

Twenty-year-old animal was killed by residents and police

A lion has been shot dead in Guatemala after killing its handler. AFP

A lion has been shot dead after escaping its enclosure at an animal park and killing its handler in Guatemala.

Local Noti Peten said Santos Esquivel Nájera died after being mauled by the lion on Sunday, according to a local news site.

Residents and police later hunted down and shot to death the 20-year-old lion.

The incident occurred at a tourist nature park that was authorised to hold animals in the town of El Chal, in the northern province of Peten.

The Guatemalan government’s National Council on Protected Areas had registered the lion as part of a private collection since 2006. It had inspected the lion’s enclosure as recently as 2019.