Lions, on Monday killed a tourist at a Johannesburg zoo.
Image: EWN.

It is being reported that an American tourist who was on holiday in South Africa has been mauled to death by a lion following unsafe practices when she and her family were game viewing at a lion park in Johannesburg on Monday. This is according to a report that was issued by police in the South African business hub of Johannesburg.

According to police spokesman, Lungelo Dlamini, the woman, who is said to be in her early twenties, was driving with her male counterpart when the lion attacked, mauling the woman almost to death. Dlamini, though admitting that he was not aware of the identity of the woman she further confirmed her male counterpart had also been badly mauled by the lion. Dlamini also confirmed that the the police had established which part of the United States she was originally from. Papers which quoted a Lions Park assistant director of operations, Scott Simpson as saying that, while the man had been taken to hospital, the woman died on the spot despite concerted efforts to save her by the paramedics. “The gentleman sustained some injuries to his arm, he was fighting the lion off inside the car. Our staff rushed over immediately and chased the lion away from the car,” Simpson told local radio.

Apparently, when they were still driving, the woman had kept her window way down which is against the rules governing these parks. According to some radio reports, the man was driving when the lion attacked. After it had mauled the woman, the man tried to use hand to dissuade the lion from attacking the woman. This is not the first time something like this happens. Sometime last year a man was mauled to death by lions after he had jumped into their enclosure in Port Elizabeth.