Hungarian "Mowgli" Attacked by His Fostered Lion, Suffers Severe Injuries
Daniel Flaskay, known as the "Hungarian Mowgli," has been passionate about animals since his childhood.
He always knew he wanted to work with them as an adult. Currently, he serves as the conservation director at a wildlife rescue center in Zanzibar. While Flaskay is knowledgeable in the language of big cats, one day, one of his fostered white lions inflicted severe injuries on him.
"When it jumped on me, it dug its claws into my back and under my triceps, then bit into the middle of my chest. Trying to push it off, it also slashed its claws into my leg. So, I essentially had six injuries: on my chest, my back, my elbow, and three injuries on my leg, all of which needed to be stitched up," Flaskay revealed in front of the _Fókusz_ camera.
Daniel also shared how this incident might have occurred. "As an experienced animal keeper, I should have recognized from the animal's body language that it was not in a good mood that day, and I should not have played or wrestled with it. I went in and ignored those signs. I started playing with the female first, ignoring the male. He circled around and attacked me from behind, jumping on me. I saw from the corner of my eye that he was preparing to jump, so I turned into the jump, and that's when I felt the claws dig into my skin, under my flesh," he recounted the events.
According to the animal rescuer, the lion attack was triggered by simple jealousy. "A month after the incident, I went back in with them," he added. Daniel also mentioned in the report that if he ever feels any fear, he would rather not enter their space, as the animal can sense this through a person's body language.
He says he has learned from the experience and remains committed to supporting wild animals. So much so, that just a few days after the attack, he was already visiting the cheetahs.
Currently, Flaskay's wildlife rescue center is home to 62 rescued animals from all around the world.