A zookeeper who spent nearly all of her 40-year career at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park in the Netherlands has died from wounds suffered following a leopard attack.
The woman, whose name has been withheld in accordance with Dutch privacy law, passed away on Tuesday, the park in the southern Dutch town of Hilvarenbeek said.
She had suffered serious wounds to her head and neck on Saturday while working in an enclosure with two male Persian leopards. The woman began working at the zoo when she was 17.
“Her passing deeply affects us all, and we sympathise intensely with her family, friends, and loved ones,” the zoo said in a statement, which was made together with her family.
An investigation is underway to determine why the woman was in the enclosure with the leopards. Zoo staff are typically not permitted to be in the same space as predatory animals.
According to the zoo, the woman was able to alert colleagues via a walkie-talkie that she had been hurt.
An ambulance and a trauma helicopter were dispatched to the park at around 11am local time on Saturday.
The woman underwent emergency surgery, but her condition worsened on Sunday evening and the zoo had said they did not expect her to survive.
The death of the Dutch zookeeper comes a little over two weeks after a man was mauled to death by a tiger in Yorkshire, England, after entering an enclosure at a wildlife park.
An initial post-mortem examination recorded multiple traumatic injuries as the cause of William Chapman’s death, a hearing at Doncaster Coroner's Court was told.
The inquest heard that Mr Chapman had a history of mental illness and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He had experienced previous bouts of psychosis, the hearing was told.
Coroner's officer Caitlin Brookes said that his family had expressed “a number of concerns” in relation to his contact with mental health services.
Mr Chapman had been under adult mental health services in Doncaster but was “highly functioning and independent with no care requirements”, the inquest heard.
Ms Brookes said the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation trust had launched an investigation following Mr Chapman's death.
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