Female Zookeeper Goes to Feed the Tigers and Almost Became the Main Course
A woman was bringing food to the tigers at the zoo, when she was attacked by one of the large cats. The zoo patrons saw what was going on and began throwing rocks at the tiger and thankfully, the tiger retreated. Other patrons picked up a table and chairs, throwing them over the fence, trying to distract the tiger named Typhoon. Someone had accidentally left open the tiger’s cage before the woman entered the enclosure.
The unnamed woman zookeeper, from Kaliningrad, was badly mauled but was rushed to hospital is expected to survive.
Alarming pictures show the woman on her back on the ground with the tiger on top of her, seemingly about to go in for the kill.
But at this point, the zoo visitors’ screams, shouts and stone-throwing distracted the big cat, which has never previously attacked a keeper.
The commotion alerted other visitors who ran to join the hero onlookers saving the woman who was able to run to a secure part of the compound.
‘The girl’s face face was bleeding,’ said one account based on the accounts of witnesses.
‘She screamed and tried to fight off the animal.’
Other zoo employees were not present at the moment of the surprise attack, and it was down to the Russian visitors to save the keeper.
The Siberian tiger – the largest cat in the world – was supposed to be contained in another part of its compound when the woman brought its food.
But there was clearly a problem and the cat – described as ‘elderly’ – was able to attack.
A spokesman praised the visitors.
