A Beekse Bergen zookeeper died on Tuesday, days after two Persian leopards mauled her in an indoor enclosure on Saturday. She had worked at Beekse Bergen for 40 years, beginning her career there when she was 17.
Beekse Bergen said the woman was caring for the leopards when the attack happened and that she suffered injuries to her head and neck. She alerted colleagues by walkie-talkie despite those injuries, then was taken to hospital in a helicopter in a critical condition.
Beekse Bergen and the leopards
The park said the leopards were usually kept away from staff, but they had been brought inside because of bad weather conditions. A park spokesperson told Omroep Brabant that the leopards were behaving naturally, and said they would not be euthanised.
There are no CCTV cameras inside the enclosure, leaving the sequence of events inside the facility to be pieced together through the account of what happened before the woman reached colleagues. Beekse Bergen said it would create a memorial location for guests and staff members to share their condolences.
Independent investigation
After her death, Beekse Bergen said an independent investigation would be launched into the incident. The park sits in the south of the Netherlands, and the case now turns on what can be established about the indoor enclosure, the leopards' movements, and the moments before the walkie-talkie call.
What exactly happened inside the enclosure remains the unanswered part of the story, and that gap is what the investigation must close.
