Bengaluru: While the video of a lion climbing on top of a vehicle in the Bannerghatta Biological Park recently was sure to send some shivers down your spine, the zoo authorities have finally found an answer for the lion’s provocation.

While initially the authorities believed that something was wrong with the vehicle since the lions had previously too targeted the same car, it was later learnt that the driver, Ramesh had repeatedly been driving close to the animals and stopped besides them for prolonged periods – as against the rules – thereby “provoking” the animals for “thrills” on the behest of guests

Having transferred the driver out of the safari for rules violations, Santosh Kumar, executive director of the BBP, said that the driver himself was attempting to get the lions closer to the car and because of this, they were familiar with him.

In a similar instance in September 2016 lions were seen approaching an SUV in the safari. Following the incidents the zoo authorities resorted to precautionary measures and have taken six smaller vehicles, including the two SUVs and four jeeps, off the road until adequate grills could be fixed. The safari will function with 25 buses until then.