A Fresno County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed a 4-year-old African lion named Cous Cous after the big cat fatally mauled a female intern who entered his enclosure Wednesday at Project Survival's Cat Haven, near Fresno, Calif.(Photo: Cat Haven)
by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY
The father of a female intern who was mauled to death by a lion at a California wildlife sanctuary expressed no bitterness toward the animal, saying his "absolutely fearless" daughter loved working with exotic cats.
Paul Hanson, a Seattle-area attorney, said he dropped off his 24-year-old daughter, Dianna Hanson, at the Project Survival's Cat Haven, 45 miles east of Fresco, in January to begin a six-month internship.
"It was just a dream job for her," he told the Associated Press late Wednesday, adding that Dianna, from Brier, Wash., hoped to parlay work at the facility into a job with a zoo later in the summer.
He said his daughter had been fascinated by big cats from an earlier age.
"She was absolutely fearless," he said.
"Once there, she gave me the tour and showed me all the big cats there with which she would be working," he said in a statement on Facebook. "Of course, Dianna being Dianna, her favorites were the tiger and the lion, Cous Cous, who killed her today. You can see on her Facebook page all the big cats she loved so much down there."
The 4-year-old male lion, which had been at the sanctuary for about 8 weeks, was shot and killed by a deputy after the attack around noon on Wednesday.
Dianna, severely injured, was still lying inside the enclosure when officers arrived. Deputies shot the lion after another park worker was unable to lure Cous Cous into another pen. Hanson died at the scene, according to a Fresno County spokesman.
"Di, we will always love you. And we will miss you so much. But I know that you will be happy. For now, you truly are in the eternal 'Cat Haven,'" Paul Hanson said in the statement.
A sheriff's sergeant told the AP that only one other worker was around at the time of the mauling. The non-profit sanctuary, which has from 40 to 50 rare cats, is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays from Oct. 1 to April 30.
Investigators are trying to determine why the woman entered the lion's space.
Cat Haven founder and executive director Dale Anderson was crying as he read a one-sentence statement about the fatal mauling at the private zoo he has operated since 1993.
"We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our staff, animals and guests," he said.
A Department of Fish and Wildlife officer told The Fresno Bee that such an attack was "very rare" because of regulations limiting contact between the animals and humans.
Lt. Tony Spada, local warden for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the newspaper that the sanctuary "has a very good history."
"This is a situation where somebody was too close to a lion," he said.
Officials at another big cat sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Florida, told the Associated Press last year that at least 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled by exotic cats in the United States since 1990. Over that period, 254 cats escaped and 143 were killed.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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By Michael Winter, USA TODAY
An African lion killed a 26-year-old female intern who entered his enclosure Wednesday at a California sanctuary for rare big cats, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said.
A deputy shot and killed the 4-year-old male lion after he attacked the woman about 12:30 p.m. PT at Project Survival's Cat Haven in Dunlap, 45 miles east of Fresno.
The sanctuary's founder, Dale Anderson, described the victim as an intern-volunteer but did not identify her. An autopsy will be conducted Thursday.
The lion, named Cous Cous, had been at the preserve since he was 8 weeks old, said Project Survival spokeswoman Tanya Osegueda.
A sheriff's sergeant told the Associated Press that only one other worker was around at the time of the mauling. The non-profit preserve is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays between Oct. 1 and April 30.
Investigators are trying to determine why the woman entered the lion's space.
A Department of Fish and Wildlife officer told the Fresno Bee that such an attack was "very rare" because of regulations limiting contact between the animals and humans.
"This facility has a very good history," Lt. Tony Spada said. "In this case, someone just got too close."
The sanctuary, which is licensed by the Fish and Wildlife Department, features about two dozen animals on 100 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills, near King's Canyon National Park.
Other big cats, which come from four continents, include tigers, jaguars, leopards and cheetahs.