Man arrested for entering jaguar enclosure in zoo after boasting on Facebook

A 26-year-old man was today arrested for allegedly entering the enclosure of a jaguar at Nehru Zoological Park here and harassing it.

Areeb Taha Mehdi, who works as a share-broker, entered the big cat's 'night-house' at the zoo on June 6 after bribing an animal-keeper and harassed the animal, said deputy commissioner of police V Satyanarayana.

"He shot video and pictures of the jaguar and uploaded them on his Facebook wall," the DCP said.

Based on a complaint from assistant curator Mohiduddin, a case was lodged under the Indian Penal Code and the Wildlife Protection Act as entering the enclosure is strictly prohibited.
Police tracked Areeb down from his Facebook account.

Areeb had also written on the Facebook wall that "I missed to tag few more friends, anyone interested to have such mind-blowing experience do let me know." He told the police during questioning that he was fond of animals and an ardent follower of Discovery channel and wanted to touch the animal.

In a similar case earlier this year, Bahadurpura police had arrested a youth called Mohd Abdul alias Fazal Sheikh for illegally entering the enclosure of a tortoise at the park. He too had taken pictures and posted them on Facebook.