Youth held for entering jaguar enclosure in Hyderabad zoo

Uploading pictures with a jaguar on Facebook proved costly for a youth as police arrested him for trespassing into its enclosure and teasing the animal in Nehru Zoological Park here.

Hyderabad police on Tuesday arrested 26-year-old Areeb Taha Mehdi, who trespassed into the night house of the jaguar after bribing a zoo employee.

Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana said the arrest came after a zoo official lodged a complaint with Bahadurpura police station.

Mehdi, a sharebroker from Malakpet area of the city, visited the zoo on June 6 and went inside the night house of jaguar, which is prohibited for the visitors. He managed to enter after paying a bribe to animal keeper. The youth teased the animal by pulling its legs and took pictures and video of the same, police said.

The youth later posted the same on his Facebook account and invited friends who want to "have such mind blowing experience" to visit the zoo.

Police verified Mehdi's Facebook account and traced him through technical help. During the interrogation, he told police that he is fond of animals and an ardent follower of Discovery Channel. He also told police that he had dream of observing animals closely and touching them as seen in the programmes on the channel.

Police have booked a case of trespass against him under Indian Penal Code and another case of teasing the animal at zoo under Wildlife Protection Act.

This is the second such incident at the zoo this year. In February, police had arrested a youth for standing atop a 120-year-old Galapagos tortoise, the seniormost inhabitant at the zoo.

Fazal Shaik, 24, had taken the picture after trespassing into the enclosure during his visit to the zoo in May last year. He was arrested after he posted the same on Facebook for maximum 'likes'.