attack Fatal lion
A YOUNG WORKER IS KILLED AT A ZOO
A 22-YEAR-OLD INTERN WAS ATTACKED AND killed by an escaped lion at a wildlife park. The terrifying incident occurred at the Conservators Center in Burlington, North Carolina, on Dec. 30. According to a statement from the Conservators Center, obtained by WHO, Alexandra Black was working with one of the husbandry teams cleaning a lion enclosure.
“A lion who had been locked into a separate holding enclosure somehow managed to enter the enclosure in which our team was working and killed Alex,” the statement said. No other humans were injured in the attack. “When our husbandry teams clean big cat enclosures they follow a safety protocol that involves moving the cats into a separate space and securing them before humans enter the adjacent space. The specifics of what happened are still under investigation,” the statement said.
The lion, a 14-year-old male named Matthai, was later killed by the Caswell County Sheriff’s Department in order for Black’s body to be safely retrieved. In a statement, Black’s family said Alex “loved animals”. “She was a beautiful young woman who had just started her career, there was a terrible accident, and we are mourning. But she died following her passion.”
It’s not the first fatal lion attack at a wildlife park. In 2015, a lioness mauled to death Game of Thrones editor Katherine Chappell through an open car window after Chappell stopped to take a photograph in a South African safari park. •