Chile: Zookeeper killed by tiger attack | It happened in the Rancagua Safari Park

An unfortunate event occurred in Chile this friday when 21-year-old woman died after being attacked by a tiger in a cage at the Rancagua Safari Park where she worked, in the region of O’Higgins, south of Santiago. The entourage of the victim denounced that there had been negligence on the part of the place.

The young woman, who worked in the maintenance area, was cleaning the facilities around the cages and did not realize that one of them was open, police reported.

The cat, a captive tiger, attacked the woman on the neck, who died minutes later. The security personnel of the compound tried to help her, and there was also the intervention of firefighters and emergency medical personnel, who were unable to resuscitate her.

Antonio Rojas, director general of Parque Safari, said that a rescue car scared the animal, which returned to its cage, in order to rescue it, although it is too late. In addition, he clarified that the episode must have lasted between 10 and 15 minutes in total.

“No one expects such situations to happen and we are immensely affected by what has happened. What were the circumstances and conditions that failed is a process that is under investigation “added.

As Rojas clarified, the woman was performing “routine cleaning actions” with a colleague and, more specifically, her job was to clean pebbles from the rails of an electric gate near the lion and tiger premises.

However, environment of the victim, they assure that it would be negligence, while the authorities have already announced investigations and a health assessment.

“I know that they sent her to do something she didn’t have to do. If they were only doing housework, ”said a family friend, adding that the deceased young woman worked as a tour guide, but that she was frequently asked to do housework on the premises.

For his part, Leornardo Maluenda, a worker at Safari Park, stressed that “negligence was committed” and that the young woman “was not informed that the tiger was at large”. “My partner came in to clean normally. Logically, if they send you to clean up an area where there is a tiger, they must lock up the tiger. She has not been warned,” he denounced.

The investigative police announced that, by order of the prosecution, they were recording and taking statements from officials.