Dutch zookeeper who spent nearly 40 years at Beekse Bergen safari park dies after being mauled by a leopard

The unnamed keeper, who was in her 50s, had joined Beekse Bergen in the southern Dutch town of Hilvarenbeek at the age of 17 and was attacked on Saturday while caring for two male Persian leopards that Storm Austen had forced inside. Despite sustaining serious injuries to her head and neck, she was able to radio colleagues for help, was airlifted to hospital and underwent emergency surgery, but died from her injuries on Tuesday.

The indoor enclosure had no CCTV cameras, leaving the precise sequence of events unclear to investigators.

An independent inquiry is seeking to establish what led her to enter the leopards' space, given that staff are normally kept separated from predatory animals.

The zoo's head of animal care, Martin van Hees, confirmed the leopard will not be put down: 'It just sat in its enclosure and did what it did — the animal cannot help it.'