A veteran zookeeper at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park in the southern Netherlands has died from injuries sustained during an attack within a leopard enclosure, officials announced on Tuesday. The woman, who had been a staple of the park’s staff for nearly 40 years, was mauled while attending to two Persian leopards in an indoor facility.
The incident occurred during a period of inclement weather, which had prompted staff to move the leopards inside. While officials noted that keepers are typically kept separate from the animals, the woman was inside the facility when the attack occurred. The exact circumstances surrounding the encounter remain a mystery, as the indoor enclosure is not equipped with surveillance cameras.
According to medical reports, the keeper suffered severe injuries to her head and neck. She was rushed into emergency surgery in the days following the attack, but the safari park confirmed on Tuesday that she had succumbed to her wounds.
In a statement released on social media, the park expressed deep mourning for the loss of a colleague who had dedicated nearly her entire adult life to the institution. The keeper began her career at Beekse Bergen at the age of 17. “Her passing also deeply affects us all, and we are intensely grieving with her family, friends, and loved ones,” the park stated. Officials have requested privacy for the victim’s family and the park staff as they process the loss.
An independent investigation has been launched to determine how the security breach occurred and why the keeper was in proximity to the predators. A park spokesperson noted that the leopards appeared to be behaving naturally, emphasizing that they remain apex predators regardless of their environment. Persian leopards are solitary cats native to parts of Africa and Asia, known to hunt prey such as deer, monkeys, and antelope, typically under the cover of night.
The tragedy at the Hilvarenbeek facility follows a string of fatal big cat encounters at wildlife parks globally in recent years. In 2025, a zookeeper in Thailand was killed by a lion after exiting his vehicle within a safari enclosure. In October 2024, a group of lions mauled a keeper to death in Crimea after an internal enclosure door was left unlocked.
Safety at big cat exhibits has remained a point of international concern following other high-profile incidents. In 2020, a 55-year-old keeper at the Zurich Zoo was killed by a Siberian tiger. In 2018, a recent college graduate was killed at a North Carolina conservatory when a lion escaped its enclosure during a routine cleaning. Earlier, in April 2016, a zookeeper at Florida’s Palm Beach Zoo was killed by a Malayan tiger after entering an enclosure through a door that was intended to be locked.
