USDA: Lion cage where intern died worked properly

April 23, 2013 @ 5:28 pm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The enclosures at a Central California wild animal park where a lion killed an intern were working properly at the time of her death, federal officials said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that the agency's investigation on the day after the mauling in March found no violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act at Project Survival's Cat Haven.

USDA investigators looked at whether proper enclosures were in place, and whether they were in good working order, among other things.

"We looked at anything and everything that could have contributed to that incident, including enclosures, the employee training program, procedures for cleaning enclosures and feeding the animals, and we did not find any violations," said USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole.

The federal agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service sent two people _ an inspector and a big cat specialist _ from its office in Fort Collins, Colo., after the attack that killed Dianna Hanson, 24, of Seattle. Hanson, a big cat lover, was working a six-month internship at the private zoo in the Sierra Foothills near Fresno just west of Kings Canyon National Park.

The inspection into Hanson's death included the safety clasps on enclosure doors. Hanson was cleaning the cage of a 4-year-old male lion named Couscous when he somehow escaped from a smaller enclosure and attacked her. Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mimms has said the gate was not completely closed.

Sheriff's deputies killed the animal when they could not lure him away from Hanson's body.

Cat Haven officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Since the property opened in 1993, it has housed numerous big cats, including tigers, leopards and other exotic species. It is permitted to house exotic animals by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and is regulated as a zoo by USDA. The USDA's last 13 inspections of the facility showed no violations.

Officials at another big cat sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, 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 U.S. since 1990. Over that period, 254 cats escaped and 143 were killed.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (10)


  • Add A Comment

  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    What provoked a lion?
    March 7, 2013 5:30 am
    Uh, millions of years of genetics, behavior, imprinting, . Duh. IT'S A LION.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • BikerDude wrote...
    Yep
    March 7, 2013 10:09 am
    What did she expect... HPD 5-0 is 100% correct. Geez, some people just don't know how to follow rules. Really is sad but DUUUUH.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    I forgot;
    March 7, 2013 12:10 pm
    Instinct and hunger.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lillyrose125 wrote...
    I Get it
    March 7, 2013 2:47 pm
    I understand her passion and love for animals and they look so cute and cuddly but she had to have been told and educated about wild animals. My heart goes out to her family - sounds like a wonderful girl. I also feel sorry for the lion as he is just being a lion. These places that take in animals to care for them are needed and so valuable. This is her fault which if alive, she would readily admit and would feel terrible that the lion lost his life due to her mistake.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chris Halliday wrote...
    Tranquelizer perhaps?
    March 7, 2013 2:49 pm
    Heavy tranquelizers are on site to be used in such situations, or so I would think. I hate it when the cat gets killed in these situations. It's real easy you big cat lovers: STAY OUT OF THE HUNGRY LION'S CAGE!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • imanegro wrote...
    Chris Halliday aka CH
    March 8, 2013 2:47 pm
    What a stupid thing to say. She was following protocol- she was not in the cage the lion was in. The lion got out of it's cage and thus into the larger cage. Read the article- all of it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    Her love for animals
    March 7, 2013 8:11 pm
    or so they say, ended in the death of herself and her so loved lion.

    If she loved them so much, why would she endanger this lion with such reckless behavior?

    Sad story, either way...

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • imanegro wrote...
    Hey, soo moronic
    March 8, 2013 2:48 pm
    She did not endanger the lion. She followed protocol. This was an accident.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    Hey, negroretard
    March 9, 2013 6:12 am
    The article has been updated since we posted. Maybe you should take that in to consideration before running your big mouth and using derogatory language, retard... ;-)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    I always love
    March 9, 2013 8:56 pm
    to have the last word!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }