Posted on 05/13/2002 1:24:51 PM PDT by billorites
TAMPA - State wildlife officials Monday were investigating what led up to a lion biting off the arm of a zookeeper at Busch Gardens.
Busch Gardens officials said the 350-pound, 12-year-old lion would not be destroyed and they are reviewing their own safety policies following the Sunday attack.
The 21-year-old zookeeper was taking her parents, her boyfriend and his parents on a behind-the-scenes tour Sunday afternoon of the lion's sleeping quarters when the attack occurred. Her right arm was severed near the elbow, Busch Gardens said in a statement released Monday.
No tourists saw the attack. It is not known how the lion came in contact with the zookeeper's arm, Busch Gardens said.
A spokesman at Tampa General Hospital said her family asked that no information about her condition or her treatment, including whether attempts were being made to reattach the arm, be released. In a statement released Monday, Busch Gardens said the zookeeper was in serious but stable condition.
The amusement park wouldn't release the name of the zookeeper, also citing the family's confidentiality request, but said she had worked there for about a year.
The woman's mother and a man, possibly the woman's father, arrived by ambulance at Tampa General Sunday shortly after the zookeeper. Both had blood on their clothes, arms and legs. The distraught woman held her head as she was brought in by wheelchair. The man held his stomach.
About a dozen family members and friends gathered at the hospital. They declined comment to reporters.
The lion, named Max, has been at Busch since 1997. The park also has a lioness.
The lions were not put on display Monday. They are part of Busch Garden's ''Edge of Africa'' exhibit and are rotated on display with hyenas.
''These are still wild animals, and they behave like that,'' said Glenn Young, Busch's vice president of zoological operations. ``This appears to be a freak accident at this point.''
Young said the 118 zookeepers employed by the park become very familiar with the animals in their care. He said a zookeeper's duties include feeding, cleaning and general maintenance.
Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo who often hosts his television show, ''Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures,'' from Busch Gardens in Tampa, said the zoo has one of the best safety records in the industry.
Hanna said he has filmed scenes with Max for his show, but the big cat was always behind plexiglass. He said he was not familiar with the animal's background.
''For the numbers of visitors and the numbers of animals they have, I would say their record is in the top two or three of all the zoological parks in the U.S., probably the world,'' Hanna said.
In 1989, an animal keeper was fatally crushed by a 2-ton elephant. In 1993, a rattlesnake bit a zookeeper, who survived. And in 1999, a woman claimed a Clydesdale horse bit off the tip of her finger.
''The first thing I tell people is a wild animal is like a loaded gun. It can go off at any time,'' Hanna said.
''Because it's an animal...eventually something will happen,'' Hanna said. ``This is the kind of business we are in.''
I hope this woman is okay. But I don't blame the lion for acting like a lion.
Good thing the snake didn't bite my ex. Poor snake would have died.
My guess is that it had something to do with the lion's mouth grabbing onto it. But I could be wrong.
In any event, getting close enough to a lion to do that kind of damage, especially with friends and family around, tells me that someone might wish to consider a career change.
Oh, that's just NRA claptrap. Everyone knows that loaded guns are just laying in wait for some innocent person to walk by - then BANG the vicious gun goes off and wounds them!!!!!
If he's responsible for every mistake made by every liberal, big-government-loving, Republican-hating, State employee in Florida, he should certainly be held responsible for this.
I was being a little silly. I don't have any plans for Busch Gardens in Tampa, but maybe in Williamsburg.
But I am spending a week at the beach...
The Right To Bare Arms!
( sorry...It's playoff time)
How about the Right to Arm Bears?
Or at least Møøse.
Well, that would certainly make things a little more lively up in the Smokeys.
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