A Siberian tiger killed a Swiss zoo keeper inside an enclosure on Saturday as horrified visitors watched, authorities said.
Spectators called for help after the big cat began attacking the keeper around 1 p.m. local time, the Zurich Zoo said in a statement. The staff rushed to help their colleague and lured the Siberian tiger, named Irina, out of the compound. The first responders tried to revive the goalkeeper.
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Unfortunately, all the help came too late. The woman died at the scene, ”said Zurich police spokeswoman Judith Hoedl.
Irina was born in 2015 at a zoo in the Danish city of Odense and moved to Zurich a year ago. Zurich Zoo Director Severin Dressen said the tiger behaved normally before the attack.
Two adult Amur tigers live in the Zurich Zoo’s tiger enclosure: five-year-old woman Irina and four-and-a-half-year-old Sayan, pictured above after Saturday’s attack. (Ennio Leanza / Keystone via AP)
An investigation is underway to determine why the guardian was in the compound at the same time as the tiger, Hoedl said.
Dressen said the caretaker had been a long-term member of the zoo staff.
“Our total sympathy is with the victim’s relatives,” he said.
The zoo called the incident “extremely tragic,” but noted that the attack was part of Irina’s “natural instincts” as a wild animal facing an intruder on its territory. Therefore, the zoo said, the tiger would face no consequences from the attack.
Visitors and colleagues who witnessed the attack were receiving psychological counseling, he said.
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The zoo, which recently reopened after a coronavirus-related shutdown, was closed Sunday. It is expected to reopen on Monday, although the tiger complex will remain closed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
