Beekse Bergen zookeeper dies after leopard enclosure attack

A longtime zookeeper at Beekse Bergen died Tuesday after suffering serious head and neck injuries in an incident involving two Persian leopards at the Dutch safari park, the zoo said. The attack occurred Saturday in the animals’ enclosure while she was caring for them. The woman’s name has not been released. Beekse Bergen said she had worked at the park for nearly 40 years. The zoo announced her death in a statement made in consultation with her family and said her death had deeply affected staff and those close to her. The zoo said the keeper was injured in the enclosure with two male Persian leopards. She was able to alert colleagues by radio, according to the zoo’s account. She was taken to hospital and underwent emergency surgery, but her condition worsened and she died from her injuries on Tuesday. Beekse Bergen said an investigation into the incident is underway. The inquiry is intended to establish why the keeper was in the enclosure and what led to the attack. The accounts released by the zoo do not establish whether one leopard or both inflicted the fatal injuries, or the precise sequence of events. A zoo spokesperson told local media that the leopards had been...