From Addis Ababa, CEOAFRICA.com gathered that a lion has killed attacked and killed a zookeeper after he forgot to close the door to the inner cage where it sleeps.

According to our source, Abera Silsay, 51, was attacked by the lion when he was cleaning the cage.

When confirming the incident, the zoo director general, Musie Kiflom says,” He entered cage number 10 where the lion named Kenenisa lives and he forgot to close the door (to the lion’s sleeping chamber)… Finally, the lion came and he mauled him.”

When it pounced on Abera, it bit his neck, guards tried to scare off the lion by shooting live rounds into the air. The lion was unhurt and remained in the zoo.

It is the second time a zookeeper has been killed by a lion at the centre in the past 17 years.

Speaking further, Musie said efforts are underway to update the training of zookeepers after the attack.

 “We have to update them on how to protect the animals, how to work with the animals, how to keep them, how to clean them,” he said speaking near the cage where the attack took place.

The Addis Ababa zoo is home to 15 endangered Abyssinian Lions, found in Ethiopia and famous for their black manes.

The lions are kept in enclosed cages, but the zoo is set to move to a larger, grassier enclosure in the Ethiopian capital in the next 13 months.

The Addis Ababa zoo was opened in 1948 by former emperor Haile Selassie, who established the centre to house his pet cub lions Molla and Lullu.