A tiger at a zoo in Poland killed its keeper "on the spot" on Wednesday, a day before the zoo was scheduled to host a global conference of zoo directors.
The Sumatran tiger killed the keeper, who had caring for the tigers at the zoo in Wroclaw for about 15 years, during what was believed to be a routine cleaning of the enclosure,
reported Sky News.
"The employee was mortally wounded by the predator while he was cleaning its cage," Wroclaw police spokesman Kamil Rynkiewicz told
Agence France-Presse. "The 58-year-old man died on the spot."
Wroclaw Zoo spokesman Radoslaw Ratajszczak said the incident "appears likely that human error is to blame."
Rynkiewicz told the news agency that an investigation has started to find out if the keeper had followed zoo regulations while cleaning the enclosure.
Sky News said it wasn't clear Wednesday if the international zoo conference will move ahead on Thursday.
Some online worried that the tiger may be killed after the attack on the zookeeper.
A similar incident happened in June when an Indonesian animal keeper was mauled by a caged tiger at a resort in Malaysia, according to the
New Strait Times.
A veteran keeper who had taken care of the tiger for eight years was attacked as he entered the cage to feed it.
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