Man Who Stripped N*ked and Fed Himself to Lions is an Ex-soldier

Franco Ferrada (right) threw himself into the lion pit (left) in front of horrified onlookers at Santiago zoo

 

Recall that we reported it here few days ago that in a bid to commit suicide, a 20-year-old man stripped himself n*ked and jumped inside a lion enclosure in a Chilean zoo. The two African lions were shot dead as they severely mauled the man who had broken into their cage.

 

As the news went viral online and social media, MailOnline has exclusively revealed that the man is a former soldier who still never got over his mother dying from breast cancer when he was 11.

 

Locals say he had never gotten over being abandoned in a orphanage at the age of 11, when his mother died unexpectedly of breast cancer

 

Franco Ferrada, who launched himself into the lion pit at Santiago Zoo in front of horrified onlookers while claiming to be a prophet sent from God, reportedly left a note in the pocket of his abandoned clothes to be a prophet and declaring the end of the world was near. 

 

"The apocalypse has arrived, and I will know when it shall come. I am the prophet and I have returned for my people,' he wrote.

 

Franco Ferrada

 

It is unclear whether he was trying to end his life, although witnesses at the zoo spoke of how he recounted to them the biblical hero, Daniel, who was thrown to the lions but saved by an angel sent by God.

 

Along with his scribbled prayer, two strange drawings of lions were found in his wallet by paramedics as he was rescued from the cage and transferred to his Santiago emergency room as it is thought the episode may be in some way related to the death of his mother from breast cancer almost 10 years ago.

 

 

Ferrada was put into care and ‘never forgave his alcoholic father for abandoning him’, according to friends. It is said his father was driven to drink by the loss of his wife.

 

"Franco appeared to be a very happy young man on the outside," said a shopkeeper in the Puente Alto district of Santiago, where the Ferrada Roman family live. "His actions at the zoo surprised us all, but his family is very troublesome."

 

"They are notorious in Puente Alto for being very raucous and often drunk," said Castellano, who comes into contact often with the Ferrada family.