Missing teen's skeletal remains found in safari park lion enclosure

The family of Muhammad Bilal last saw him on Monday, February 24. Since the 18-year-old left the family home in Lahore, Pakistan to gather fodder for cattle, his family was unable to track him down. He remained missing until Wednesday when staff at the nearby Lahore Safari Park discovered human skeletal remains and pieces of clothing in their lion enclosure. The family believes that the remains belonged to Bilal, and his death was caused by the lack of park security.

When Bilal failed to return home, his worried family tried to look for him but was unable to find him. On Tuesday evening, the family approached the safari park hoping to get some answers. They knew that Bilal often did odd jobs at the safari park for money. Park employees refused to look for Bilal in the park on Tuesday, as they thought it was too late for the search to be safely conducted.

The next day however, park workers started searching the enclosures for any sign of the boy. Eventually, the workers found a human skull and bones in the enclosure of the big cats. Apart from the bones, they also found pieces of clothing strewn around.

Bilal's father identified the pieces of clothing as those worn by the boy when he went missing. The bones have been sent for forensic examination to determine the identity of the victim, as well as the cause of death. However, even before the bones were sent for forensic tests, the family decided to ransack the safari park.

According to the family, Bilal died due to the negligence of the safari park security. Chaudhry Shafqat, deputy director of Lahore Zoo Safari, rejected the charges against the safari park security. Shafqat had suggested that the teenager might have been murdered before his body was tossed to the lions.

The police, however, informed The Times that they found footage of Bilal scaling the perimeter fence of the park. The chairperson of the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation, Safwan Subhan, stated that locals often entered the park unauthorised, making safety their own responsibility.