MAULED TO DEATH IN 30 SECONDS
Brave Rosa didn’t stand chance
THE zookeeper mauled to death by a tiger would have been killed in under 30 seconds, an expert claimed yesterday.
Leading vet Pete Wedderburn said nothing could have been done to save Rosa King.
It’s believed the keeper, 33, was savaged to death after running into the tiger enclosure to help a colleague. Mr Wedderburn said the “freak accident” at Hamerton Zoo Park, Cambs, would have unfolded in less than half a minute.
The vet claimed that even a tranquilliser dart would have been useless because it takes several minutes to work.
He said: “The whole sequence of events would be less than half a minute.” Rosa’s mother Andrea, 54, yesterday paid a heartfelt tribute to her daughter.
She said: “It’s what she has always done, always loved.”
Rosa, who is believed to have grown up in Chippenham, Wilts, studied for a diploma in animal care at Wiltshire College.
She is thought to have worked at the zoo for 14 years before her death on Monday. She was a passionate Formula 1 fan, posing for a picture with Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.
Wildlife photographer and pal Garry Chisholm said: “Rosa wasn’t just a keeper at Hamerton Zoo – she was Hamerton Zoo.”
The 25-acre park remained closed yesterday as investigations go on.
Cambridgeshire Police confirmed the tiger has not been put down.
They are not treating the death as suspicious.
A statement from the zoo said that at no point did any animal escape from an enclosure.