Dutch zookeeper who started at the safari park aged 17 dies days after she was mauled by a leopard
Beekse Bergen safari park in Hilvarenbeek has no cameras inside the enclosure where a keeper of 25 years was mauled, leaving her fighting for her life.
A zookeeper in her fifties who had spent nearly four decades at Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek died on Tuesday, three days after a Persian leopard attacked her inside its indoor enclosure during bad weather. After she radioed for help, colleagues found her on the ground with serious head and neck injuries. Emergency surgery followed, but her condition had worsened by Sunday and she did not survive.
The leopard involved will NOT be put down; head of animal care Martin van Hees said: 'It just sat in its enclosure and did what it did — the animal cannot help it.'
An independent investigation has been launched, and the park said it is sharing the news 'in consultation with her family', asking for privacy as colleagues grieve.
