Two lions being bred illegally by a man in a Czech village were shot and killed by authorities after one of them mauled their breeder to death.
The local regional police spokeswoman told the CTK Agency that authorities had to kill the lions in order to get to the man's body.
A nine-year-old male lion mauled its owner to death in a village in the east of the Czech Republic on Tuesday morning, police said.
"I can confirm the breeder is dead," regional police spokeswoman Lenka Javorkova told AFP, adding the circumstances of the incident were under investigation.
"The police had to shoot the two lions dead. A doctor then declared the owner dead," said the spokeswoman, adding both animals had been inside the enclosure at the time.
The breeder's father called the police at 0600 GMT after seeing his son's motionless body in the enclosure on a security camera.
Authorities said Michal Prasek, a 34-year-old amateur breeder in Zdechov village near Vsetin, had been denied a breeding permit by veterinarians but kept a lion and lioness in an enclosure on his land despite complaints by locals.
Prasek brought the lions from Slovakia in 2016, causing a stir in the village and attracting media attention.
He invited neighbours into his garden to see the animals but never got a permit for them, local media reported.
Czech media reported that people in the village had expressed concern about the presence of the animals.
Last June, the female lion attacked and injured a cyclist while taking a walk on a leash with its owner.
Prasek had been fined repeatedly for unauthorised breeding.
