Keeper Critically Injured in Leopard Attack at Dutch Safari Park; Zoo Says Animals Will Not Be Put Down
A keeper in her fifties was critically injured at Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, the Netherlands, at about 11 a.m. on October 24, when she entered the indoor area housing two male Persian leopards alone during a round with a colleague. She radioed for help; a colleague gave first aid, and she was flown to hospital by trauma helicopter with serious head and neck injuries.
In an update on October 25, the park said her surgery had gone well but she remained in critical condition, in a coma under sedation, with recovery chances described as very slim. The keeper had worked at the park for many years. Animal care manager Martin van Hees said it is not yet known which leopard attacked, and that enclosure procedures are being reviewed: this time, he said, something went differently than it should have.
Van Hees said the park will not put down either animal: "It just sat in its enclosure and did what it did. The animal cannot help it." No action will be taken against the leopards before the review concludes.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：波斯豹。图片：Tamar Assaf / Wikimedia Commons，公共领域
