Every
few years, we see cases of people going into enclosures at zoos,
wanting to "make friends" with animals. It always ends badly. And, as
it turns out, this is not a new phenomenon.
Even as
habitats are shrinking and species are disappearing, the world never
goes more than a few years without an attack by a big cat. This is not
because people are encroaching on lion habitats. It's because somewhere
in the world, someone decides to get into the lion enclosure at the
local zoo. If they don't get in themselves, they decide to put their
arms inside the enclosure to take a picture of, or pet, the lion.
Some people
claim that these things happen because of the Disney-fication of
animals, or the fact that we are no longer in touch with nature.
Actually, it's something people have always done, as long as the general
public has had access to large wild animals in enclosures.
Possibly
the first mauling of a very stupid member of the public happened all the
way back in 1686, in London. The Tower of London housed, along with
various terrified inmates, a surprisingly large menagerie. The animals
were tended by the Gills - a family who passed the keeping of the
animals from father to son for over a century. And this particular
incident might be why William Gill was the last Gill to work as a
keeper.
William
Gill had a mistress named Mary Jenkinson. Even then, people were
fascinated by big cats, and the lion house was one of the most popular
attractions. Mary got a group of her friends into the lion house, and
showed off how close she could get to the lions. Then, she decided that
just being close wasn't enough. She wanted to stroke the nearest
lion's paw.
It doesn't
take much imagination to guess what happened next. The lion grabbed her
arm in its mouth and tore at it. Several attendants came running, and
shoved lit torches at it. It still seemed reluctant to let Jenkinson
go. By the time it did, her arm was so badly damaged that it had to be
amputated. She died soon afterwards, either because of the injuries
from the lion, or because she had her arm amputated in the 1600s.
Top Image: William Warby
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