A Granby Zoo employee has suffered serious injuries to her back and neck after being attacked by a lion on Monday morning.
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One of the zoo’s three lions assaulted a female worker Monday morning as she was preparing to feed the animals and entered the lions’ enclosure.
He said the zoo is still investigating the circumstances of the attack. The zoo was not yet open to the public at that time.
The female attacked the zookeeper, but was driven off after a colleague sprayed the animal with a high-pressure water hose and Carbon dioxide gas, which the zoo said is standard procedure when an attack occurs.
“The paramedic gave her treatment at the scene and transferred her to the hospital”, he said.
“At this point we don’t have the exact diagnosis”, he said.
He added there will be psychological help for the woman as well as her colleagues.
Police said the investigation would be handled by Quebec’s workplace safety board, which could not be immediately reached for comment. According to Gosselin, there is no danger to the workers or visitors.
The unidentified woman has worked at the zoo since 2011. The zoo is “still trying to understand” the causes of the incident, he also said. All three lions had been isolated and were made unavailable for public viewing after the attack.
In May, a 3-year-old boy fell into an enclosure with a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo.
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In July, a girl was killed at a Moroccan zoo when an elephant threw a rock at her, hitting her on the head.
