Qatari youth attacked by lion, suffers serious injuries

Published: 30 January 2025

NT Bureau
Doha

In a shocking incident, a 17-year-old Qatari youth has sustained serious injuries after he was attacked by a lion that was being raised by an individual at his home in Umm Salal, Al Sharq daily has reported.

The mother of the injured young man told Asharq that her son had acquired a young lioness (4 months old) in 2022, but he soon discovered that he had an allergy from dealing with it, so he decided to give it to someone who is an expert in raising animals. Since then, the young man has visited the lioness to check on her three times. The incident happened about two weeks ago.

The mother explained that her son saw the lioness the first time from outside the cage, but the sec-ond and third times the lioness was taken out of the cage with another lion he was raising (7 years old). The young man was attacked by the lion, which sank its sharp claws and fangs into his head and body, causing serious injuries.

She denied rumours that her son was attacked by the lioness he owned, explaining that the lion raised by the person in charge of the place was the one who attacked her son and caused him these injuries, and that the whole matter is subject to investigations by the competent authorities.The young man was transferred to Aisha Bint Hamad Al Attiyah Hospital, where he received first aid, and then was transferred to Hamad Hospital Emergency Department, where it was found that he had suffered a partial skull fracture and fractures around the eye, in addition to deep wounds in various parts of his body. He underwent surgery immediately, and was transferred to the intensive care unit for 4 days, then he was transferred to the specialized surgery center, where he remained for 12 days until he returned home the day on Monday to complete his treatment.

Mother explained that his condition is now stable, thank God.