Why Did the Lion at Lincoln Park Zoo Attack the Keeper?
Again, it is hard to speculate without all the information. I would suspect that a human or equipment failure underlies this incident since the lions were in the main exhibit at the same time the keeper was. In most facilities, the animals are kept separate from the the humans unless they are trained and handled intentionally in an educational presentation where they are handled by a professional trainer. Most animal incidents can be attributed to human error or equipment failure. In this situation, it is my understanding that the keeper was sixty years old. I am not aware of many zoo keepers or trainers of that age. The heavy demands of the job require fast reflexes and good fitness to manage the animals. The good news is that the staff onsite had the training and expertise to get the keeper out of the moat/exhibit, to discreetly move the public away from the area, and used the right techniques to distract the lions away from the keeper and into a safe holding area. Don’t Zoo Keepers
