Photo: Alex Black Facebook
A conservatory lion escaped from a locked area andattacked and killeda 22-year-old intern on Sunday, according to authorities.
“Alex was working with one of our husbandry teams cleaning a lion enclosure, when a lion who had been locked into a separate holding enclosure somehow managed to enter the enclosure in which our team was working and killed Alex,” the statement said, adding that “no other humans were injured.”
“When our husbandry teams clean big cat enclosures they follow a safety protocol that involves moving the cats into a separate space and securing them before humans enter the adjacent space. The specifics of what happened are still under investigation,” the statement continued.
The lion, a 14-year-old male named Matthai, was born at the animal sanctuary.
The Caswell County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Robert Thomason/The Times-News via AP
Alexandra Black.Alex Black Facebook
Stinner went on to share that the Conservators Center, which is closed until further notice, will be re-evaluating safety protocols to ensure that the facility is “safe for our people and for the public.”
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Black’s family is mourning the death of their “beautiful, intelligent, passionate” daughter.
“Alex loved animals,” her family said in a statement, according to the local ABC affiliate. “She was a beautiful young woman who had just started her career, there was a terrible accident, and we are mourning. But she died following her passion.”
source: people.com
