A report on the death of an Illinois farmer killed by a caged lion found his own carelessness caused the tragedy.
Al Abell apparently decided to clean the lion's cage in February 2004 while his wife, Kathie, was out running errands, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. An investigator said Abell may have felt over-confident around the lion, a 5-year-old male named Simba, because the couple had raised it from infancy.
As required by law, Simba had both a large cage and a smaller enclosure to be used when the main cage was being cleaned. Guidelines say two people should move an animal, but Abell moved Simba by himself and then forgot to lock the shift cage.
When Kathie Abell returned home, she discovered the lion out of its cage and her husband missing. She summoned police, who decided they had no choice but to shoot the animal, and then she discovered her husband's body.
The exhibition farm, Cougar Bluff, passed an inspection only a few weeks before Abell's death.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
