A female zookeeper in Australia is now in critical condition after she was mauled by two lions while she was cleaning the animal's enclosure on May 29, according to a police report.
Mauled by two lions
The 35-year-old zookeeper was reportedly bitten in the neck and head. The paramedics were called into the scene and they said that the attack was extremely vicious. The attack happened at Shoalhaven Zoo, around 100 miles or 162 kilometers out of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
The paramedics were called to the facility at around 10:30 a.m., according to the police statement. The woman was unconscious inside the enclosure when the paramedics found her, they entered the enclosure to retrieve her, as stated by 9 News Australia.
The woman was immediately airlifted to a hospital in Sydney, the police said that she is in a critical but stable condition. A duty operations manager at NSW Ambulance, Faye Stockmen, stated that she felt so frightened with what happened and is definitely one of the highlights of her career.
Stockmen added that they had to walk into a lion's den, which is one of the worst jobs that she has ever experienced. The zoo was not open at the time of the incident and it has been closed for weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Also Read: 14-Year-Old Girl from Iran Murdered by Own Father, Sparking Outrage in the Country
Safety of Zookeepers
Zookeepers feed the animals daily, clean their enclosures, train them, and monitor their health. One of the requirements of being a zookeeper is to have at least a two-year degree in biology or animal science. However, zookeepers are at risk especially if they are assigned to take care of wild animals such as lions.
In November 2017, a zookeeper in Russia was attacked by an Amur tiger because the safety rules of the Kaliningrad enclave had been broken.
The people who saw the attack threw stones, small tables, and chairs to the tiger in order to frighten it, and to not attack the zookeeper, the zookeeper then took the chance and fled. The zookeeper and the tiger should not have been in the enclosure together.
The whole incident was investigated by the police. According to Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda daily, the female zookeeper has 20 years of experience. The tiger is 16 years old at that time and had no record of being aggressive before the incident.
In December 2019, a zookeeper from Pakistan was attacked by a lion through the bars of its enclosure while it was being fed. Zookeeper Kannu Piraditta was feeding the lion some raw meat at the Karachi Zoological Gardens in Karachi, Sindh when the lion clamped its jaws around his arm.
The zookeeper screamed in pain while visitors were surprised by the incident. The other employees of the zoo who saw the whole thing did not intervene to help the zookeeper.
Piraditta was left with a stream of blood pouring from his arm that was bitten by the lion as bystanders shouted and screamed around him. He was immediately rushed to the Civil Hospital in Karachi where he was treated.
According to the director of the zoo, the zookeeper did not follow the rules for feeding the lions, he had approached the lion from the wrong end of the enclosure and stuck his arm inside the cage.
Related Article: Pigs Roasted Alive in Iowa Farm, Mass Extermination Secretly Taped by Animal Rights Group
