Lion attack victim Alexandra Black 'died following her passion' at center that passed USDA inspection
A wild animal refuge in rural North Carolina was off-limits to the public and its staff in mourning Monday as authorities tried to determine how a lion could attack and kill an intern less than two weeks on the job.
Alexandra Black, 22, was working at the Conservators Center, a 45-acre park near Burlington, N.C., when she was mauled Sunday by a 14-year-old lion named Matthai.
“She was a beautiful young woman who had just started her career," Black's family said in a statement. "There was a terrible accident, and we are mourning. But she died following her passion."
Mindy Stinner, executive director of the center, said Black was working with a team cleaning a lion enclosure. Matthai was supposed to be locked into a separate area but somehow entered the enclosure and quickly attacked Black, Stinner said. No one else was injured, she said.
The lion was killed by sheriff's deputies after efforts to tranquilize it failed, Sheriff Tony Durden said.
"The stress level was high," Durden told WRAL-TV. "I know they’re not used to having a 600-pound animal, and then having a young lady laying on the ground. So, you know, stress.”
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Matthai was born at the center shortly after his mother was placed there in 2004 following a USDA-assisted confiscation, Stinner said. The center took in 14 lions and tigers that year to care for animals housed elsewhere in "unacceptable conditions."
The Conservators Center was founded in 1999. On its website, the center said it began giving public tours in 2007 and draws more than 16,000 visitors annually to its 45-acre site.
A routine USDA inspection in April turned up no problems, according to government documents. The report listed 16 lions and three tigers among 85 animals counted by the inspector.
The animal rights group PETA had sharp words for the center, however, dismissing USDA inspections as inadequate and the reports "virtually meaningless." PETA said the center should be accredited by Association of Zoos & Aquariums or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, which PETA says provide "stringent" safety requirements.
The center does not appear to be listed in either group's online accreditation information. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Humans and captive animals will keep losing their lives as long as unaccredited roadside zoos like the so-called "Conservators Center" keep imprisoning dangerous animals for entertainment," said Brittany Peet, director of captive animal law enforcement for PETA.
Stinner said husbandry teams cleaning big cat enclosures follow a strict safety protocol that involves moving the cats into a separate space and securing them before humans enter the adjacent space. The specifics of Sunday's tragedy remain under investigation, she said, adding that the center would be closed to the public pending an investigation.
The North Carolina Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, which enforces workplace safety rules, is investigating the incident, department spokeswoman Dolores Quesenberry said.
An investigation is triggered whenever a worker dies or is seriously injured in a workplace accident and typically take three to four months, she said.
Stinner said thorough investigations are crucial.
"I think any time you have an incident you have to take the time to really assess exactly what happened," Stinner said. "That means an investigation. We need to understand it and make sure it is something that never, ever happens again."
Stinner lauded the courage of Black's family. She said they understood how important working with animals was to Black, who recently graduated from Indiana University.
Black, from New Palestine, Indiana, had begun the animal husbandry internship about 10 days before her death, her family said. It was her fourth internship and her first outside Indiana.
"She really wanted to make a career of working with animals," the family's statement said.
The family asked that people consider honoring Black by donating to Wolf Park in Battleground, Indiana. Black had recently interned at the park.
"This is the worst day of my life," Stinner said Sunday. "We've lost a person. We lost an animal. We have lost our faith in ourselves a little bit today."
Contributing: Mark Barrett, The Citizen-Times in Asheville, N.C.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lion attack victim Alexandra Black 'died following her passion' at center that passed USDA inspection
