A worker who was mauled by three lions at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park on Tuesday awoke from his coma yesterday following lengthy surgery on his wounded legs, chest and head.

Doctors said Zhang Huabang is still in critical condition and they are worried he will pick up a post-operative infection over the next couple of days, which could be very dangerous.

Zhang, 34, accidentally walked into a lion habitat on Tuesday, his first day on the job at the park, when he was attacked by three of the cats.

"When Zhang was brought to hospital (on Tuesday), he was in a coma," said Wang Tao, the doctor who led Zhang's surgery on Tuesday night. "We conducted surgeries on his legs, chest and head, as well as giving him a blood transfusion."

Doctors said Zhang's leg bones could be seen sticking through his flesh when he arrived at Renji Hospital.

If no infection sets in, doctors hope to begin plastic surgery on Zhang in about five days. Wang said even if no infection is detected, it will take at least a year for Zhang to recover from his injuries.

Although Zhang's group leader gave safety instructions in the morning before he began his work, the Sichuan Province native was not familiar with the park's layout and wandered into an open area that lions live later in the day.

Shortly after three lions began attacking Zhang, a lookout spotted the problem and sounded an alarm.

A car was sent to hose down the lions with water and try to distract them with a chicken.

"We're very sorry to see such events happen, and certainly we'll pay more attention to the safety education of our staff," said Shen Jianguo, an official with the park.

Currently, the park is conducting an internal investigation of the attack and no outside bodies are looking into the incident.

In 1999, a bus driver was killed when six tigers attacked him.

Covering 153 hectares, Shanghai Wild Animal Park is the country's first state-level wild animal park, and is home to more than 10,000 animals from about 200 species.

Among them are imported giraffes, zebras, antelopes and white rhinoceros as well as some endangered domestic animals such as pandas, golden monkeys, South-China tigers and Asian elephants.

(Shanghai Daily October 13, 2005)