Jaguar kills zookeeper in Denver
By Keith Coffman 32 minutes ago
DENVER (Reuters)- A male jaguar killed a zookeeper at the Denver Zoo on Saturday and employees put the animal down, police said.
"I can confirm that a female worker was killed and we're still conducting an investigation," Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
According to a statement posted on the zoo's Web site (www.denverzoo.org), the 6-year-old jaguar attacked the unidentified worker inside its enclosure late Saturday morning. Armed employees entered the enclosure to retrieve the injured woman when the cat threatened them.
"The jaguar approached staff trying to assist the zookeeper and it was shot and killed," the statement said.
The mauled worker was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, Jackson said. Her identity and age were not released.
The zoo was closed after the incident, but the public was never in danger, zoo officials said.
The 140-pound jaguar, named Jorge, came to the Denver Zoo from the Santa Cruz Zoo in Bolivia in March 2005 after he was orphaned in the wild. This month, the zoo announced it had obtained a 16-month-old female jaguar to breed with Jorge.