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Lion handler fired after attack
03/05/2007 10:39 - (SA)
Harare - A lion handler at a game park near the Zimbabwean capital Harare has been fired and the park temporarily closed after a young Australian diplomat was severely mauled by lions.
The diplomat, who was on her first foreign posting, is lucky to be alive after the attack, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Thursday.
Gemma Huggins, 27, was visiting the Lion and Cheetah Park when the incident happened on March 4, said the newspaper.
She and other embassy staff were taken into a lion pen by a handler when a lion suddenly pounced on her head and shook her, according to the report. Other lions then joined in the attack.
The lion's teeth are reported to have come within millimetres of Huggins' jugular vein.
Huggins has been treated for severe injuries to her head, neck, torso and leg and underwent several skin grafts at Pretoria's specialised Unitas Hospital.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed that a diplomat from the Harare embassy had been hospitalised after an attack at a game park.
Second serious attack at park
This is the second serious lion attack at the Lion and Cheetah Park in recent years. In 2005, a Japanese diplomat was killed after she was attacked by lions at the park.
Officials at the game park say the handler on duty when Huggins was mauled has been fired.
"There is not much to say really because the woman attacked has since been released from hospital and we have already taken other corrective measures, which included dismissing the person who was on duty on that particular day," said Lion and Cheetah Park manager Anthony Newall.
The state Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) ordered the temporary closure of the park after the attack.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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