Horror at the zoo
When Rosa King, 33, died in a tiger attack on 29 May, no one knew better than Fiona McClay how her family were feeling. Fiona lost her own daughter, Sarah, in a similar attack four years ago…
When I heard the terrible news that Rosa King, a young zookeeper from Cambridgeshire, had lost her life after being mauled by a tiger, my heart sank.
It brought raw and painful memories flooding back, and I really felt for Rosa’s family. Tragically, I knew exactly what they must have been going through.
My beautiful daughter, Sarah, was just 24 when she was killed by a tiger while doing the zookeeping job she so dearly loved. After it happened, we raised safety concerns for staff at her workplace, and yet it seems another life has been so needlessly lost, albeit at a different zoo. I wondered if I could have done anything to prevent it somehow.
Most kids love visiting the zoo when they’re little, and adore looking after their pets. My Sarah was no different.
She and her brother, Stephen, now 31, and sister Lucy, 24, filled our house in Lindal-in-Furness, Cumbria, with everything from kittens to ferrets, and they all enjoyed our family trips to South Lakes Safari Zoo, where they spent happy hours watching the animals.
Sarah’s passion for wildlife continued as she grew up, so I wasn’t surprised when she said she wanted to study animal conservation at the University of Cumbria.
In 2009, when Sarah was 20, my husband, Nick, died suddenly and we were all devastated. Our family felt smaller and emptier but we stuck together, especially as my daughter, Lucy, had developed a terrible fear of losing another family member.
We carried on as best we could. In 2011, we certainly had something to celebrate. Sarah started working at South Lakes Safari Zoo, and just a year later my remarkable girl was promoted to the post of big-cat keeper. It was her dream job, in the zoo she’d loved as a child.
I knew it was dangerous, but I never worried about Sarah because I assumed the zoo was rigorously monitored, with safety being a priority. Besides, she loved her job.
When she wasn’t working, we’d go shopping for antiques together and eat toasted teacakes at a local tea room. We spoke every week and texted regularly.
Then, in May 2013, I’d just arrived home in Linlithgow, West Lothian, after a holiday, when I got a call from Sarah’s partner, David.
He called to tell me that Sarah had been seriously
injured by a Sumatran tiger called Padang, and was unconscious. I felt sick when David said she’d been airlifted to Royal Preston Hospital, so I jumped in the car and drove as fast as I could to be with her.
Heartbreakingly, I didn’t make it in time, and Sarah died from multiple injuries. I couldn’t believe my vibrant, loving daughter was gone, and I could barely get the words out when I called Stephen and Lucy to tell them. We were all in utter shock.
Things got worse when, the next day, the zoo owner, David Gill, reopened for business, and suggestions were made that Sarah had been at fault and had gone into the wrong area, resulting in the tiger’s attack. We were all hurt and bewildered, because no one knew exactly what had happened, and it seemed disrespectful to say that, let alone open the zoo again so quickly after Sarah’s death. I missed her terribly – we all did. Some days, I just couldn’t stop crying, wondering what had really happened. Sarah was meticulous and I just knew she wouldn’t have been at fault. Although we didn’t speak to the zoo, we decided as a family that we didn’t want the tiger that had attacked Sarah to be put down. It was a wild beast, and we knew they killed people in the wild. We thought it’s what Sarah would have wanted, too.
In June that year, we held Sarah’s funeral and we asked mourners not to wear black. It was incredibly emotional, especially when we played one of Sarah’s favourite heavy metal tracks. and music from Beauty And The Beast.
It took another three long, painful years for the truth to come out at the inquest. There, it was revealed that Sarah was in a staff corridor next to the tiger enclosure when the animal came though a gate with a defective door and attacked her.
A witness said Sarah had been bending down and working when the tiger attacked her, and I’m convinced that she was unconscious from the moment it got her.
People ask how I carried on, but you can’t just stop. I still had a family, and we learned lots about zoo legislation, as we were petrified that there would be another attack.
We discovered there was no transparency, so we don’t know if all zoos are safe or whether absolutely anyone could be in danger.
We were given a contribution towards Sarah’s funeral, and a few thousand pounds, when the zoo was found to have breached health and safety laws and fined, but it’s not about the money.
Now, we’re still trying to adjust to Sarah’s death. Lucy is getting married at Christmas, and I’m looking forward to it so much, but it will be incredibly hard without Sarah. She should be standing next to her sister as her bridesmaid, and it breaks my heart that I won’t ever see Sarah marry.
Still, her partner, David, will be at the wedding, and I know he misses my darling girl just as much as I do.
My son, Stephen, became a dad to my adorable grandson 20 months ago. Even that joy is tinged with sadness, knowing Sarah never got the chance to be a mother, or meet her nephew. She would have been a wonderful mum and aunt, I know.
Now, at 53, I’m devastated someone else has been killed by a tiger. No family should have to endure what we have, and we need to make sure our zoos are safe. I’ll never stop being proud of Sarah, but I’ll never get over losing her.
‘The tiger had come through a gate with a defective door and attacked Sarah’