The incident occurred on Tuesday when the guard, Harish Gimbal, was closing the gates of Lion Safari inside the sprawling park in suburban Borivali. A lion pounced on him and dragged him into the dense bushes of the park, Senior Inspector R R Thakur said. “We are searching for Gimbal in the forest area and moving towards the direction in which he was taken by the lion,” he said.

The Lion Safari is a 20-minute ride through a 29.65 acres fenced forest area in the park. There are said to be about 25 lions which visitors can see up close from inside the caged buses provided by the park. The SGNP encompasses an area of 104 km and is surrounded on three sides by the city. It is one of the few national parks existing within a metropolis limit.