Dutch zookeeper dies after leopard attacked her in the animal's enclosure

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A longtime zookeeper at a safari park in the Netherlands died Tuesday from injuries she suffered when she was attacked by a leopard in its enclosure over the weekend.

The Beekse Bergen Safari Park said in a statement that the woman, whose name has been withheld in accordance with Dutch privacy law, had passed away after she suffered serious wounds to her head and neck on Saturday while working in an enclosure with two male Persian leopards. “Her passing deeply affects us all, and we sympathize intensely with her family, friends, and loved ones,” the zoo in the southern town of Hilvarenbeek said in a statement, which was made together with her family. The woman began working at the zoo when she was 17 and spent nearly all of her 40-year career there.

An investigation is underway to determine why the woman was in the enclosure with the leopards. Zoo staff are typically not permitted to be in the same space as predatory animals.

According to the zoo, the woman was able to alert colleagues via a walkie-talkie that she had been hurt. An ambulance and a trauma helicopter were dispatched to the park at around 11 a.m. local time on Saturday.

The woman underwent emergency surgery, but her condition worsened Sunday evening and the zoo said they did not expect her to survive. The safari park said an area in the park will be set up where condolences can be left.