It has now been three months since Fanica Gherasim was mauled to death by an eland antelope at Öland's zoo.

His son, Constantin Gherasim, was contacted by Romanian police who told him that his father had died in a workplace accident in Sweden.

Now SVT Nyheter Småland, as the first media, has met the dead man's family.

- I started crying and shaking, he says.

Worried: "Worked alone"

Constantin Gherasim and his wife Andreea Gherasim live in Belgium but had close contact with Fanica.

They describe him as a kind and talkative person who enjoyed his job at Öland's zoo. 

- He liked the job because he could move freely outdoors, says Constantin.

But the family often worried about Fanica's safety, especially since he said he was always alone with the animals.

- He did everything himself and we always asked if he wasn't afraid.

But he said "I can beat them if they don't obey", says Andreea.

The family describes Fanica Gherasim as a kind and talkative person.

Now he is buried in his home village in Romania.

Photo: Private, Olof Peterson/SVT

"Broad experience" according to the park

In its own investigation into the accident, Öland's zoo writes that Fanica Gherasim had "a broad knowledge of the animal species concerned" from previous work around Europe.

It also says that he was involved in developing routines and taught colleagues how eland antelopes should be handled.

- He has spent many years at the park and worked abroad with specialized animals like this, said Richard Berglund, operations manager at the park, the day after the accident.

But Fanica's family says he did not work professionally with animals before he started at Öland Zoo in 2018. Constantin also wonders how his father communicated with his colleagues about the animals and the risks of the work.

- He only spoke Romanian.

He probably spoke Romanian and the employer Swedish.

SVT has contacted the park's owner, Barbro Hägg, and the park's operations manager, Richard Berglund, for a comment.

According to their lawyer, they do not want to comment, as long as a preliminary investigation is underway.

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In the video, you get a summary of the event - in 60 seconds.

Photo: SVT/Google Earth