A young zookeeper died last night after being mauled by one of her tigers.
Sarah McClay, 24, from the Barrow area, suffered a heart attack and had to be resuscitated by paramedics at a wildlife park in the Lake District.
Hundreds of visitors are believed to have been in the South Lakes Wild Animal Park, at Dalton-in-Furness at the time.
Ms McClay was taken by air ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital following the attack, where she later died.
Police and Barrow Borough Council are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Cumbria Police said the tiger was locked in its enclosure following the attack and that members of the public were not at any risk during the incident.
Visitors were asked to leave the wildlife park before it closed early.
Police said Ms McClay's family were 'very shocked and distressed' and had requested privacy to grieve.
It is thought she had been feeding the tiger or cleaning out the cage when the animal pounced.
A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service said paramedics were on the scene within nine minutes.
‘We sent an ambulance and helicopter and she was air lifted to hospital in Preston. She was extremely ill, the spokesman said.
‘They were very traumatic injuries. She was very badly mauled. She went into cardiac arrest at the scene.
‘The crews performed CPR on her and managed to bring her back so that she could be flown by helicopter.
‘The crews who were there were offered counselling afterwards, as is standard procedure with this kind of incident.’ Early reports suggested police armed response units were also alerted.
Police said members of the public were not at risk at any time and that after the keeper was taken to safety the tiger was locked in its enclosure.
The park closed early and all visitors left after the accident.
A statement on the park's Facebook site last night said: 'Today we have had a very serious incident at the zoo , one of our zoo keepers was involved and has been taken to hospital as you may all be hearing on the news. We have no further information at this time, but our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this time. The zoo will be open as usual tomorrow and every day.'
The South Lakes Wild Animal Park, which attracts about 500,000 visitors each year, claims to be one of the best conservation zoos in the UK.
It houses three Sumatran tigers and a 17-year-old Amur tiger.
Its website says: ‘We are holding them as ambassadors for their species to raise awareness.’ The 17-acre site was established by animal nutritionist David Gill, 42, ten years ago.
He had no experience of running a zoo but started building the attraction himself because of ‘a desire to see education and conservation brought into the public awareness by the reality of a close, wild experience’.
He still designs and builds all the facilities at the zoo with the help of staff. Last night, zoo visitors took to the internet to express concern for the keeper.
One wrote: ‘I have visited the zoo many times and always felt safe. My thoughts are with the keeper but also David Gill and the rest of the staff. He is a very caring employer and will be taking this hard.’
Another wrote: ‘So tragic, my son volunteered there for three months whilst taking a gap year from university, a fantastic place to visit. All the keepers are professional and really care for all the animals.’
Sarah McClay, 24, from the Barrow area, suffered a heart attack and had to be resuscitated by paramedics at a wildlife park in the Lake District.
Hundreds of visitors are believed to have been in the South Lakes Wild Animal Park, at Dalton-in-Furness at the time.
Ms McClay was taken by air ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital following the attack, where she later died.
Police and Barrow Borough Council are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Cumbria Police said the tiger was locked in its enclosure following the attack and that members of the public were not at any risk during the incident.
Visitors were asked to leave the wildlife park before it closed early.
Police said Ms McClay's family were 'very shocked and distressed' and had requested privacy to grieve.
It is thought she had been feeding the tiger or cleaning out the cage when the animal pounced.
A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service said paramedics were on the scene within nine minutes.
‘We sent an ambulance and helicopter and she was air lifted to hospital in Preston. She was extremely ill, the spokesman said.
‘They were very traumatic injuries. She was very badly mauled. She went into cardiac arrest at the scene.
‘The crews performed CPR on her and managed to bring her back so that she could be flown by helicopter.
‘The crews who were there were offered counselling afterwards, as is standard procedure with this kind of incident.’ Early reports suggested police armed response units were also alerted.
Police said members of the public were not at risk at any time and that after the keeper was taken to safety the tiger was locked in its enclosure.
The park closed early and all visitors left after the accident.
A statement on the park's Facebook site last night said: 'Today we have had a very serious incident at the zoo , one of our zoo keepers was involved and has been taken to hospital as you may all be hearing on the news. We have no further information at this time, but our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this time. The zoo will be open as usual tomorrow and every day.'
The South Lakes Wild Animal Park, which attracts about 500,000 visitors each year, claims to be one of the best conservation zoos in the UK.
It houses three Sumatran tigers and a 17-year-old Amur tiger.
Its website says: ‘We are holding them as ambassadors for their species to raise awareness.’ The 17-acre site was established by animal nutritionist David Gill, 42, ten years ago.
He had no experience of running a zoo but started building the attraction himself because of ‘a desire to see education and conservation brought into the public awareness by the reality of a close, wild experience’.
He still designs and builds all the facilities at the zoo with the help of staff. Last night, zoo visitors took to the internet to express concern for the keeper.
One wrote: ‘I have visited the zoo many times and always felt safe. My thoughts are with the keeper but also David Gill and the rest of the staff. He is a very caring employer and will be taking this hard.’
Another wrote: ‘So tragic, my son volunteered there for three months whilst taking a gap year from university, a fantastic place to visit. All the keepers are professional and really care for all the animals.’
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