Wolf attack at French zoo leaves woman seriously injured

PARIS - Police and prosecutors were on June 23 investigating how a 37-year-old women came to be attacked and seriously injured by three wolves in a zoo outside Paris.

The woman was bitten “on the neck, the calf and the back” at the Thoiry zoo around 40km west of the French capital, a source close to the case told AFP.

Ms Maryvonne Caillibotte, chief prosecutor in Versailles, said earlier that the woman’s life was in danger. Later June 23, a source told AFP that her injuries were no longer life-threatening.

The woman is believed to have gone out alone for a jog after spending the night with her family in a safari-style lodge at the zoo, which it advertised on its website at between €220 (S$320) and €760 a night.

Lodges in the wolf zone promise “silence, rest and disconnection”, according to the zoo’s adverts. They offer “a one-of-a-kind, very intimate experience with the arctic wolves you’ll be able to see from the living room”.

The woman “ended up in the safari zone, which is supposed to be restricted to cars. That’s where she was attacked by three wolves”, Ms Caillibotte said.

It was not clear “whether she made a mistake or the trail wasn’t clearly marked”, she added.

First responders got to the scene “very quickly” and the wolves were “moved away, then returned to their area”, Ms Caillibotte said.

The source familiar with the case said earlier the woman must have got through “security systems, a trench and an electric fence supposed to keep the animals in”.

Police are investigating the incident.

Thoiry zoo was founded in 1968 by Mr Paul de la Panouse, owner of a local chateau that has been in his family since the 16th century.

He recalled to regional newspaper L’Independant in April how he initially stocked the zoo with a ship loaded with 120 animals brought from Kenya.

Mr de la Panouse sold the zoo to a group of investors in 2018. AFP