[centaur]

Just came across this article in TOI where in a Toyota Innova Safari vehicle was attacked by 2 lions in Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore. What made this read interesting is that this is the same vehicle which was attacked sometime in September last year by the same lions.

Close shave for tourists as lions attack vehicle in Karnataka bio-park
BENGALURU: Two lions attacked a safari vehicle in Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) last week. None of the visitors was, however, injured. This is the second time the same vehicle has been attacked. The vehicle in question, ironically, wasn't a regular safari bus but a Toyota Innova, a luxury SUV meant for those who pay higher fares.

A video of the attack was shown on some local television channels on Tuesday. The video, shot by a safari bus driver behind the Innova, shows two lions following it closely for quite some distance. While one of the animals tries to cross before the vehicle after pursuing it, another tries to climb onto it and bite the rear glass. The cries of the visitors inside are clearly audible. Then the vehicle is seen moving on, and the lion goes away.
Blaming the driver for negligence of safety, Santosh Kumar, BBP executive director said, "The attack took place on January 28 or 29. The driver is clearly at fault. He should never have stopped the car, which he probably did to please the visitors. We've removed him from safari duty."

Santosh said meshes are installed on windows of bigger vehicles ferrying the public but it is difficult to fit meshes on all sides for smaller vehicles. The Innova had meshes on the side, but not on the windscreen or rear window. "We'are planning to send a proposal to the state government to remove small vehicles like this and retain only safari buses. This will ensure safety of animals as well as that of visitors," he added.

Veterinarians attached to BBP, who have been monitoring the behaviour of lions, say there is nothing unusual. "The lions or any other animal in the safari could have chased the vehicle out of curiosity or to break the boredom that dogs captive animals. If you see such videos, you will observe that lions don't attack the vehicle or people in it. They stop whenever the vehicle stops," said a veterinarian.

Another veterinarian said the lions' behaviour could also be due to the stress that captive animals experience when the number of safari vehicles increases. "Sometimes, taunts and noise by visitors also irritate them."
BBP has around 20 lions which are released in the safari area in groups of four or five. In September 2016, a similar incident was reported when a lion charged at the same vehicle, taking a family on a safari. The BBP management had then directed safari drivers to be more careful and not to get close to animals during their rounds.

Some say its the drivers fault and others say it's the stress in the lions which caused this but then why the same vehicle and not any other? Just tried searching through google for the previous incident and got the links.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/l.../1/756935.html

http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/TOP-li...10775-PHO.html

In one of our threads on pets, I had got to know about dogs barking after cars was because of the urine scent of a dog from another locality. Maybe the lion thought of the innova to be an elephant or a rhino because of the shape and colour.

Wonder what's the case here but still is intriguing.

MODS - please move/delete this thread if not appropriate

[simplyself]

Lions were just curious about the vehicle. But imagine how the passengers might have felt.

An official says driver shouldn't have stopped the car. A veterinarian says lions stopped whenever the vehicle was halted.

Though not very clear, the driver didn't seem to be careless. I think he actually did the right thing by stopping the vehicle and then speeding away when the lion was behind the vehicle. Note that there was another lion in front which gave a little chase.

It's not the driver's fault that the vehicle isn't fitted with mesh.

[gkveda]

My Guess (On lighter note)
1. Do Toyota offer Test drives for Lions ? May be not. Hence, they were trying to get Test drive
2. Was there a Team BHP Sticker on Car ? May be Yes. Hence, Lions were trying to get Membership by catching one of the members in the car(First time in September they did not succeed, So, tried second time now)

On a serious note, I am surprised, Is there a real necessity of having a Luxury Vehicle like Innova, BMW Or Audi for Safari?

I think, this is a technique used by Management to earn more revenue by introducing Luxury vehicles. Also, why was there no safety grills installed on the car? If they knew that it is not possible to install safety grills on Innova, They should not have gone for Innova as an option for safari.

In my opinion, the people who took these decisions should be interrogated and actioned instead of blaming a driver who is in no way at fault.

[nkrishnap]

The Lady in the video on India Today portal is sensationalizing it. Lion tried to enter the car

Oh, yeah through the tail light

Crappy media coverage as usual.

[srishiva]

I will wait until they introduce a convertible car to go around the safari

The driver is supposed to have provoked to get the tourists some thrill. They do stop sometimes very close for the people inside to take close up photographs. I have seen this in Shimoga where they open their driver's side door and allow people to take photographs. Being very well fed, they might not resort to aggressive behviour but one would never know. They are still wild animals.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I have seen this in Shimoga where they open their driver's side door and allow people to take photographs. Being very well fed, they might not resort to aggressive behviour but one would never know. They are still wild animals.

Quite ridiculous way to please tourists. In case an attack does happen from one of these wild cats, the poor animal will be blamed. The moron opening the door gets away.

[deerhunter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSucD1p89Ok

This happened few months back. Here the lions look a bit more aggressive.

Anyway, this is a disaster waiting to happen, like in the following video from China.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDZP08LZlKM

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Quite ridiculous way to please tourists. In case an attack does happen from one of these wild cats, the poor animal will be blamed. The moron opening the door gets away.

Maybe we should check for the number of the beast and keep 6 daggers ready? The famous scene from the Omen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIXw7YGUhfQ

[GrammarNazi]

The Lion is playing, else just one hard slam with its paw would break that Innova's rear glass to pieces.

The Taxi should be penalised, firstly for unauthorised usage, and secondly for stopping. IIRC one is supposed to keep moving unless there an animal in their way.

Our forests need decent supervision, but the system is deliberately not kept tight enough to prevent such people from flouting rules.

Originally Posted by centaur

...In one of our threads on pets, I had got to know about dogs barking after cars was because of the urine scent of a dog from another locality. Maybe the lion thought of the innova to be an elephant or a rhino because of the shape and colour. ...

It's a misnomer that animals are stupid. They are not devoid of intellect or reason. It's not like they don't hatch a plan of how they want to do things.

Once in a chat with a zoo keeper, he explained how some animals are less predictable than others. Apparently lions are more predictable & less moody than even elephants (though the latter is considered more intelligent).

Dunno how far that is true, but I'd take his word going by his age and a decade of experience at the zoo.

[samaspire]

The funny thing about the whole incident is that the reports are calling the Innova a "Luxury SUV"

[batterylow]

The 'mystery' has been solved. As usual the cause of the issue is not the vehicle but the nut connecting the steering wheel to the driver seat.

The mystery of lions climbing on top of one particular vehicle in the Bannerghatta Biological Park has finally been solved.

After lions approaching an SUV in the safari was seen in September 2016, and also last week, zoo authorities have transferred the driver, Ramesh, out of the safari for “provoking” the animals for “thrills”.

Santosh Kumar, executive director of the BBP, said the driver had repeatedly driven close to the animals and stopped besides them for prolonged periods - as against the rules - on the behest of guests.
“Initially, we thought there was something wrong with the car as the lions seemed to target only this vehicle. However, we found out that driver himself was attempting to get the lions closer to the car and because of this, they were familiar with him,” he said.

Source

[sgiitk]

So the lions are somewhat upset by the pilot. When will be learn that we are the 'interlopers' in the habitat of the lions. They are not put there for our entertainment. After one experience with the boorish behavior of some visitors (unfortunately including a servant of ours) I have stopped visiting zoos. The worst behavior (of the human apes) is seen at the enclosures housing simians.

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

The worst behavior (of the human apes) is seen at the enclosures housing simians.

Well Said Sir !!

I always think that there should be some online hunters in the Zoo to catch these Human Apes and arrest them in specially built cages inside the same Zoo just next to wild animals. At times of scarcity, they can even use these apes to feed wild animals

[devrajman]

If you see this event in different light,

So, Lions still got their senses and instincts working!! I thought they are all sedated and mentally-ill due to lethargic lifestyle...

[NPV]

The old mini-bus type Safari vehicles were good enough at Bannerghatta National Park, there was really no need to have an Innova as a Safari vehicle, especially without grills/mesh, it can very easily end up in disaster.

Apparently, one of the drivers was warned on more than one occasion not to drive up close to the lions (when the passengers requested him to) and he has been relieved of safari driving duty.