A woman was mauled by a Jaguar after the crossed the barrier at a zoo to take a selfie with the animal.
Over the weekend, a woman climbed over a barrier to the jaguar enclosure at Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona for a picture when one of the big cats reached out and attacked her arm.
Luckily for her, she sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses told officials that the woman had crossed over the barrier in order to take the photo, and that the animal never left her enclosure but was able to grab the woman when she came close. Unfortunately encounters like this aren’t uncommon and can often lead to the animal being killed, like in the shooting death of Harambe the gorilla and Margaash the leopard.
A spokesman for the Rural Metro Fire Department, said the woman, who is in her 30s, climbed over a barrier at the zoo to get closer to the jaguar’s enclosure so that she could get a selfie with the animal.
The jaguar reached out and grabbed her arm with its paw, leaving severe lacerations. The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
While she was busy taking pictures for the gram, the jaguar took a swipe at her which left her bleeding heavily.
The woman could be seen lying on the ground and in pains according to pictures taking by a witness.
Zoo officials acknowledged the incident in a statement:
“We regret to inform that this evening, before closing there was an incident reported involving a guest, who crossed over the barrier to get a photo, according to eye witnesses.
“The visitor sustained non-life threatening injuries to their arm from one of our female jaguars. At the request of the family, paramedics were called. At no time was the animal out of its enclosure. The incident is being fully investigated.”
According to Zoo director Mickey Ollson, this is the second time in a month that the jaguar has swiped at a visitor.
