An American woman has been killed in an attack by a Lion at at a wildlife park in South Africa.
The attack happened in the Lion Park, a private wildlife park located between Johannesburg and Pretoria that offers self-driven and guided tours.
The Lion jumped through the open window of the 22 year old woman’s car and started mauling her.
“They had their windows all the way down, which is strictly against policy. “The lion bit the lady through the window,” Scott Simpson, assistant operations manager said.
The Lion park requires visitors to keep their windows closed while driving through the grounds, Simpson said. Park officials believe the tourist’s windows were open, he added.
“We have signage up everywhere informing people to keep their windows closed,” Simpson was quoted by several media sources. “We hand out flyers as they are driving in reminding them to keep their windows closed. We really do everything we can to make sure that people know that.”
While park staff were able to chase the lion away, the woman died while receiving treatment from emergency services.
The Lion Park is a popular destination for tourists who can drive in their own vehicles through large enclosures where lions roam freely.
The Park is one of Johannesburg’s “best-known attractions,” according to South Africa’s official tourism site, and functions as “a kind of hybrid between a zoo and a game reserve.”
Visitors can also pet lion cubs in smaller pens or have supervised walks through cheetah enclosures.
Earlier this year an Australian tourist was bitten by a Lion when he was driving in the park with his windows open.
