Jaguar attack victim denies she was trying to take selfie

PHOENIX – A woman attacked by a jaguar at an Arizona zoo Saturday says she did not cross the barrier and was not trying to take a selfie.

The woman, in an interview with KPHO-TV and its sister station KTVK-TV in Phoenix and posted at azfamily.com, disputed initial claims made by the Wildlife World Zoo.

“I never crossed the barrier. I was not trying to get a selfie,” said the woman, whom the report identified only as Leanne. “If I was trying to get a selfie, I think my injuries would be in a different place.”

The woman said she never passed a barrier in front of the jaguar’s pen, but she acknowledged she leaned over the barrier.

“I never expected the jaguar’s paw to come through the fence,” she said.

The Arizona Republic, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, has reached out to the woman but has not received a response.

The zoo said the woman apologized for the incident, but she said in the interview that her apology was not an admission she was trying to take a selfie. The woman said she apologized to the zoo for the backlash caused by media reports of the incident.

She told Arizona’s Family that she was wrong to lean over the barrier but said the zoo should look into moving back the fencing surrounding the exhibit.

The woman also said she has offered to start a fundraiser to move back the fencing, because she enjoys visiting the zoo and does not want it to change.

The Arizona Republic reached out to Wildlife World Zoo officials Tuesday afternoon for a response to the woman’s claims but has not received a response.