Experienced zoo worker mauled to death by lions after making one fatal mistake

A woman has died after being mauled to death at a Crimean safari park.

Leokadiya Perevalova, 41, was an employee at Taigan safari park for 17 years.

The park - which is owned by Oleg Zubkov - is the largest European breeding ground for lions and other large predator mammals.

It's thought to be home to around 60 African lions.

But tragedy struck when Leokadiya made a fatal error that lead to her being mauled by a pack of lions at the park yesterday (October 16).

She was reportedly bitten in the neck was could not survive her injuries.

Apparently, no one was around at the time of the ordeal to help Leokadiya.

Leokadiya Perevalova died at Taigan safari park (Leokadiya Perevalova/East2West)

In a statement, the park's owner said: "The staff who found the body, unfortunately, could not provide any help because the lions had just mauled it.

"Unfortunately, no one was around and there was no one to help. When the staff found it, it was a breathless body."

He continued: "I was horrified by the fact that the lions, despite the fact that they were well-fed, healthy, strong, they not only killed, but also nibbled, started to gnaw the legs.

"And this is the horror, because if lions have tasted human meat, they become cannibals. They are predators, we cannot have claims to them, because this is the nature of higher predators. And it makes no sense to deal with them. Safety rules and norms of behaviour are written in blood, unfortunately, in all zoos."

Oleg went on to hail Leokadiya as 'the most experienced employee who knew all the biographies of our lions, tigers and other animals'.

As to how the incident happened, Oleg said: "The transfer gate from the outer enclosure to the inner enclosure, which was being cleaned, was not closed."

Leokadiya had worked at the park for nearly 20 years (Leokadiya Perevalova/East2West)

Leokadiya's husband echoed similar sentiments when he spoke to local news outlets and said that her death was a result of 'human error'.

An investigation has been launched into the matter.

Moscow-installed Investigative Committee of Crimea and Sevastopol said in a statement about the ordeal, as per CBS News: "A criminal case has been opened over the death of an employee at the Taigan lion park as a result of a predator attack."

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