Jaguar attacks a woman at the Arizona Zoo and this woman apologizes

A woman apologized to authorities at an Arizona Zoo after crossing a barrier while trying to take a photo and was attacked by a jaguar.

The incident occurred Saturday at the Wildlife World Zoo, at the Litchfield Park Aquarium & Safari Park in Arizona, where emergency workers responded around 6:40 pm. and found "a woman in her thirties with arm lacerations," said Shawn Gilleland, spokeswoman for the Rural and Metropolitan Fire Department. One of the zoo's jaguars rammed his claws into the woman's arm after crossing the fence, officials said.

Adam Wilkerson, who was at the zoo with his mother and two sons, said his mother managed to distract the jaguar by stuffing a bottle of water into the cage. A video that he took shows the woman who writhes on the ground after the attack. She was treated on the scene before being taken to the hospital with "stable, life-threatening injuries," Gilleland said.

"This zoo in particular is much more open about the proximity of these animals," Wilkerson said, describing the barrier as "a little above the waist" for him (he is 5 feet 9 inches). ). He said that the injured woman had "more witnessed a climb" than the reality, but said that the barriers were safe for those who did not try to look at them.

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"Common sense would probably not be a good idea," he added. The zoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials of the zoo told the local media that the woman, who was not publicly identified, later apologized for her actions.

The World Wildlife Zoo assured a Twitter user who worried about the euthanasia of the jaguar: "We can promise you that nothing will happen to our jaguar. She is a wild animal and appropriate barriers have been put in place to ensure the safety of our guests. It is not the fault of the wild animal when the barriers are crossed. "

Fatal and fatal incidents in recent years have highlighted the dangers that people will accept for a photo, including a selfie. (It was not clear if the woman in Arizona was trying to take a selfie.)

According to one In 2018, 259 deaths between October 2011 and November 2017 resulted from attempts at selfies. Most of them had risky behavior, like standing on the slippery edge of a cliff. In Kaaterskill Falls, Catskill Mountains, for example, four of the most recent deaths are due to a person posing for or taking a photo, and New York State has taken steps to make the area safer and more secure. accessible to visitors.