Bear Kills Zookeeper at Swedish Zoo

A 19-year-old zookeeper died Friday at a Swedish Zoo after being mauled by a bear while cleaning its enclosure.

The mauling occurred at Orsa Rovdjurspark, called Europe’s biggest predator park, the BBC reported. The zoo is located about 200 miles north of Stockholm. The 2-year-old brown bear had been removed from the enclosure, but is thought to have tunneled his way back in while the zookeeper was cleaning it. 

The bear was shot after the attack, and the park was closed for the remainder of the day, the BBC reported. The park has many bears, leopards, and tigers.

The zookeeper was cleaning the enclosure ahead of a special event at the zoo in which guests could go into the enclosure with a zookeeper, the BBC reported. It was supposed to be empty of animals until after the event.

Police were investigating the safety procedures used and whether they were followed correctly in this case, the BBC reported.  The park says that no guests were at risk in the incident, although four visitors were inside the enclosure at the time of the attack, Sky News reported.

The park has many endangered species among its animals and offers “close encounters with powerful animals,” the BBC reported.

In 2012, a zookeeper at another Swedish zoo south of Stockholm was killed by wolves she had helped raise, Sky News reported. The park was fined nearly half a million dollars for negligence and a park manager was convicted of manslaughter when it was found that he had violated Swedish laws governing workplace safety.

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