Woman mauled by wolves at safari park when she jogged out of safe area
A woman is in intensive care after she was attacked by three wolves in a French safari park while out for a jog.
The 36-year-old jogger was staying at a lodge within Thoiry Park on the outskirts of Paris when on her run she strayed into the main safari zone, which is reserved for cars.
She was rescued after park attendants heard her screams as she was being attacked, and was taken to a nearby hospital.
The incident took place around 9am yesterday, and wolves bit the woman in the ‘neck, calf and back’ at the Wow Safari Thoiry zoo in Yvelines.
It is about 25 miles west of the French capital, Maryvonne Caillibotte, the chief prosecutor in Versailles said.
She was battling for life in an Intensive Care Unit in a hospital.
A police source told Le Parisien: ‘We do not know at this stage whether the guest made a mistake or whether there was a problem with the signposts.’
Yesterday morning the woman ‘crossed the enclosure on foot’, a reserve ‘which is only accessible by car’, the chief executive officer of the Wow Safari Thoiry park, Christelle Bercheny, said.
She said: ‘Luckily the medical staff intervened very quickly and we were able to save this person.
The CEO of the zoological park, Ms Bercheny said that there were signs inside to remind people of the ‘rules of survival’ to be followed in the park.
‘The behaviour of the animals in the reserves is that of animals in freedom or semi-liberty.
Lodges in the wolf zone, advertised on the zoo’s website, promise ‘silence, rest, and disconnection’. These lodges, the website notes, offer ‘a one-of-a-kind, very intimate experience with the Arctic wolves, which you’ll be able to see from the living room’.
The park offers accommodation near the wolf and bear enclosures, with the lodge area protected by electric fences and ditches, the France Info news site reports.
It is not clear why the woman entered the car-only safari zone. Park authorities have made no comment so far.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.