Sumatran Tiger Attacks Keeper at Topeka Zoo

Summary:

A beautiful spring morning at the Topeka Zoo in Kansas turned tragic Saturday when a male Sumatran tiger attacked a keeper, inflicting wounds that sent her to a hospital. Although keepers are never supposed to be in the same space as the tigers, they found themselves together in the outdoor habitat that morning for reasons under investigation.

“There’s some sort of error that occurred here,” said Brendan Wiley, the zoo’s director, who spoke at a news conference Saturday afternoon. He confirmed that several visitors to the zoo had witnessed the attack. The employee is the zoo’s primary tiger keeper and had worked there for years. He said that the keeper was in stable condition and that the zoo was reviewing its safety protocols.

The zookeeper, suffered “lacerations and punctures” to the back of the head, neck, back and arm. She was awake and alert when she was transported to a hospital.

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