Jaguar attacks woman attempting to take selfie with the animal
Some people will go a bit too far to get that perfect selfie.
A woman was attacked by a jaguar after she crossed over a zoo barrier in order to take a photo with the wild animal, authorities say.
The incident took place at World Wildlife Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park in Litchfield Park, Ariz., on Saturday.
Officials told AZFamily.com that the woman was “attempting to take a selfie near the fence of the jaguar enclosure when the cat reached out and attacked her arm.”
Adam Wilkerson, a fellow zoo guest, captured the moments after the attack in an extremely graphic video, which was then posted on Reddit. The woman can be seeing lying on the ground and shrieking in pain, with several deep lacerations to her arms.
“Without thinking, I had no idea what I was going to see, I just ran over there,” said Wilkerson. “I saw the other girl up against the fence with her arm caught in the jaguar’s claws… I could see the claws in her actual flesh.”
In an attempt to distract the jaguar, Wilkerson’s mother threw a water bottle into the cage, and the jaguar let go of the woman.
In a tweet, World Wildlife Zoo released a statement explaining the incident.
“Please understand why barriers are put in place. Sending prayers to the family tonight…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 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.”
It seems this isn’t the first time that a zoo guest has sustained injuries after crossing over the barrier to gain access to the jaguar. However, this incident was more serious than the previous one.
“She had scratched a person once before when they crossed the barrier…There’s no way to fix people crossing barriers,” Mickey Ollson, Zoo director, told AZFamily.com. “That happens occasionally. And we put substantial barriers there and if people cross them, they can get in trouble.”
The zoo will determine if additional barriers need to be put in place to deter guests from getting too close to the animals.
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