Cat Haven founder and executive director Dale Anderson was crying as he read a one-sentence statement about the fatal mauling at the exotic animal zoo he has operated since 1993.
The 26-year-old intern was attacked and killed when she entered the lion’s enclosure, Anderson said, but he refused to answer questions or provide more details.
Sheriff’s deputies responding to an emergency call from Cat Haven, in the Sierra Nevada foothills about 45 miles east of Fresno, found the woman severely injured and still lying inside the enclosure with the lion nearby, Fresno County sheriff’s Lt. Bob Miller said.
Another park worker had unsuccessfully tried luring the lion away and into a separate pen, so deputies shot and killed it so they could reach the wounded woman, who died at the scene, Miller said.
Investigators were trying to determine why the intern was inside the enclosure and what might have provoked the attack, sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Collins said. The facility is normally closed on Wednesdays, and only one other worker was there when the mauling happened, Collins said.
The male African lion, a 4-year-old male named Couscous, had been raised at Cat Haven since it was a cub, said Tanya Osegueda, a spokeswoman for Project Survival, the nonprofit that operates the animal park. Osegueda did not know how the park acquired the cub.
Cat Haven is a 100-acre facility just west of Kings Canyon National Park. Since the property opened in 1993, it has housed numerous big cats, including tigers, leopards and other exotic species. It is permitted to house exotic animals by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and is regulated as a zoo by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Results of the last 13 inspections by the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service show no violations dating back to March 2010. The most recent inspection was Feb. 4, USDA records show.
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Couscous, the 4-year-old African Lion, lived at Cat Haven, where he had been raised since he was a cub. He attacked and fatally injured an intern who got into an enclosure with the lion, Fresno County sheriff's Sgt. Greg Collins said.
Despite state regulations that require annual inspections, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife most recently inspected the facility in January 2011.
“We have to do the best we can with the resources we’re provided,” said department spokeswoman Jordan Traverso.
The inspector’s written comments were “facility in good condition.” The inspector checked gates, enclosures, water supplies, drainage, cleanliness, ventilation and the general health of the animals.
Department spokeswoman Janice Mackey said she was unaware if any state regulations would prohibit an employee from entering an exotic animal’s enclosure.
