A tragic incident unfolded at a Brazilian zoo, where a teenager lost his life after being attacked by a lioness. The young man, identified as Gerson de Melo Machado, 19, had entered the lioness’s enclosure at the Arruda Câmara Zoobotanical Park in João Pessoa on a recent Sunday.

Gerson, who had a history of mental health challenges and spent much of his life in care, was seen climbing down a tree inside the big cat’s pen after scaling a 20-foot wall.

Disturbing footage documented the moment Leona, the lioness, pounced on Machado as he neared the ground. Zoo veterinarians reported that the lioness was left ‘stressed’ and ‘in shock’ following the harrowing event.

Machado, who had previously attempted to travel to Africa as a stowaway to fulfill his dream of becoming a lion trainer, was already known to authorities for his repeated attempts to breach security due to his fascination with large felines.

Reports indicate that this was not his first attempt to enter the zoo enclosure. In the wake of the attack, the zoo has been temporarily closed, with no scheduled date for reopening as of the latest updates from local sources.

It was reported that he had made earlier attempts to enter the Arruda closure, and following the attack, the zoo was closed. There is currently no reopening date yet, as per local reports.

According to correctional officer Ed Alves, the young man had 16 prior arrests, ten of which occurred when he was a minor. 

Machado had also been referred to CAPS (Psychosocial Care Center), but he escaped from the facility. 

Gerson de Melo Machado, 19, slipped into the big cat’s pen at the Arruda Câmara Zoobotanical Park in João Pessoa, on Sunday

The teenager, who had spent years in care and had mental health problems, was filmed yesterday climbing down a tree to reach the lioness after scaling a 20-ft wall in in the port city of Joao Pessoa in north-east Brazil City police

Zoo vet Thiago Nery said the lioness had been contained without the use of tranquilliser darts of weapons

Child protection worker Veronica Oliveira, who worked with Gerson for eight years, said he had grown up in extreme poverty without a proper family support structure and described him as someone who had mental health problems like his mother who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

‘For eight years I’ve been supporting you, fighting and struggling to guarantee your rights. When you first entered my office, you were only 10 years old,’ she said in a statement.

‘Counselor Patrícia Falcão and I received you from the Federal Highway Police, found alone on the highway. Since then, the entire Protection Network has always contacted me whenever something happened to you,’ she added.

Oliveira also stated that she met ‘the child who was destroyed from the parental power of her mother, who is schizophrenic .’   

His own issues meant he was the only one of his siblings not to be taken in by adoptive families.

The child protection worker told a Brazilian news website: ‘Gerson was a child who suffered violations of his rights’.

Revealing his dreams of going to Africa to tame lions, she recalled in an agonising social media post: ‘You told me you were going to take a plane to go on safari to Africa to look after lions.

‘I thanked God when I was warned by the airport that you had cut the fence and got inside the landing gear compartment of a Gol Airlines plane.

‘I thanked God because they saw on the cameras that there was a teenager there before a tragedy happened.

‘Gerson’s story is that of a boy who just wanted to get to know Africa to tame lions

‘He discovered too late that a lion isn’t a domestic cat and that we can’t tame them without the right knowledge. Sadly he wasn’t sensible enough for that.’

Horror video footage captured the moment Leona the lioness, said by zoo vets to have been left ‘stressed’ and ‘in shock’ after the incident, set upon him as he neared the ground 

City police who had arrested Gerson several times for minor offences including criminal damage confirmed his Africa dream and said he had told them he would make the journey ‘on foot’ after his airport security breach

The child protection worker told a Brazilian news website: ‘Gerson was a child who suffered violations of his rights’

Following the tragedy, the park’s administration emphasized that the enclosure complies with the normative instruction of Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), which determines construction standards to ensure the safety of visitors, professionals, and animals. 

The park claim its barriers exceed the minimum requirements and confirmed that ‘there is no possibility of euthanasia’ for Leona, and that the lioness continues to be monitored.

Brazilian politician Matheus Laiola, who previously served as chief of police of the environmental protection department of Curitiba, said in an online post which raised eyebrows because of some of its content: ‘A lioness did exactly what a lioness does. Instinct, defence, natural behaviour of a wild animal.

‘Tragedy and error begin when humans ignore basic safety limits, risk their own lives and also endanger the life of the animal.

‘In Joao Pessoa, a man died yesterday after invading a lioness’s enclosure at Arruda Camara Park.

‘According to the city council, he climbed a wall over six metres high, passed through the protective bars, used a tree for support and entered the cage.

‘We stand in solidarity with the victim’s family.

‘Respecting wildlife is not a choice. It is a rule. When this boundary is ignored, it is always the animal that suffers, and this cannot continue to happen.

‘Who do you think was the “animal” in this situation?’