Leon van Biljon, also known as the “Lion Man,” was killed by his pet lions in 2019 after making a fatal mistake while taking care of them.
The 70-year-old man had thought he had managed to domesticate his two lions and one lioness, building an unbreakable and safe bond with them
But this was proved wrong later when they attacked him.
The ‘Lion Man’ had adopted them
Leon van Biljon had adopted and raised two lions and one lioness since they were cubs, naming them Rambo, Nikita, and Katryn, respectively.
The man had managed to domesticate them and would treat them as members of his own family.
They were incredibly close
The big cats and the man were incredibly close and often felt safe around each other.
They were so close that he could feel safe falling asleep around them without any danger to his being.
But the man made a mistake
Although they were close and he had raised the two lions and lioness to be friendly and domestic, he made one mistake years later that put him in danger.
It was a fatal move that he did not expect to be his end.
The incident happened in 2019
The man’s life would end in 2019 in his Mahala View Lion Game Lodge in Hammanskraal, near Pretoria in South Africa, when he had decided to walk into their enclosure to fix a fence.
While doing this, he turned his back on the lions.
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In a few seconds, he was attacked
What happened next happened quickly; he was trapped between one of his lions’ jaws.
Some reports say while he had his back turned to them, one of the lions took the opportunity to pounce on him, gripping the man between its teeth.
Emergency services arrived at the scene
It was too late when the emergency services showed up at the enclosure as the man was motionless and covered in blood, and the lions were circling around him.
The medics had to have the lions shot to reach the man’s body.
It was too late to save him
Although the emergency medics had tried their best to reach his body on time, his wounds were far too many for any lifesaving measures to work.
The incident was relayed
“Leon went in to fix the fence but knows the lions well and turned his back as he was fixing the fence and one came from behind and took his neck,” a source from the lodge told The Daily Star.
The man’s family spoke about it
According to Pretoria News, his family stated that he had “left the Earth because of his children” and that he was “at peace.”
His daughter shared a heartwarming message saying that her father had lived a fulfilled life, raising animals well and spreading awareness about their species.
She added more about her father
Leonette van Wyk said, “We built that farm from nothing, grew up there. My dad raised the lions. He would sleep with them. He taught educational groups about lions and the relationship between God and these animals for school groups.”
The man spent his life teaching people about lions and lost it while caring for them.
