Shouldn't have gotten in the cage with Cous Cous
(DUNLAP, CA) -- Dianna Hanson of Brier, Washington in Snohomish County was just 24 years of age and only a few weeks into her dream job in California.
She had loved big, exotic cats all her life said her father and the graduate of Mountlake Terrace High School and Western Washington University had gone to the Sierra Nevada foothills just outside of Fresno to work as a volunteer keeper at Cat Haven.
The animal park was founded in 1993 with the goal of exhibiting a variety of wild cats and to engage public support for their conservation in the wild.
But something went terribly wrong Wednesday afternoon.
Around 12:30 p.m. she was attacked and killed by Cous Cous, an adult male lion at the facility. For reasons that were not clear Wednesday night, Dianna was inside the cat's enclosure with the big animal when it unexpectedly attacked, according to Dale Anderson, director of Cat Haven.
It has not yet been determined what might have provoked the animal to attack Ms. Hanson.
Anderson was crying as he read a short statement about the fatal mauling. He said the non-profit which runs Cat Haven would investigate to see if the intern and the other worker on-site had followed safety protocols.
We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our staff, animals and guests, he said in a statement.
It was not clear Wednesday if Hanson was authorized to be in the enclosure alone with the lion.
Cat Haven is normally closed on Wednesdays. Only one other worker was there when the attack occurred.
Cous Cous got shot :(
look forward to watching these
