Wolves Attack and Bite Zookeepers

Summary:

MICHIGAN CITY, IN – Two employees at an Indiana zoo were injured in a wolf attack this week after they entered the animals’ enclosure to assess a dead animal. According to city officials in Michigan City, the incident began on Wednesday, June 3, when two zookeepers at Washington Park Zoo discovered during their morning rounds that Echo, a 10-year-old female timberwolf, had died overnight.

“When staff entered the enclosure to assess the situation, the two surviving wolves — Koda and Nikos — instinctively became protective and agitated, as wolves are deeply social animals with strong bonds to their pack,” the city wrote in a statement.

“Michigan City Police and Fire and La Porte County EMS responded swiftly. Officers provided immediate first aid on scene before medical teams arrived. Both employees were transported to the local hospital,” the statement continued. WNDU and ABC 7 Chicago reported that first responders found one 39-year-old woman who had sustained “severe injuries,” including at least four bite wounds to her neck and limbs, as well as a second victim, 34, who had sustained a bite wound to the forearm and had to be removed from the enclosure via ladder. By Friday, one zookeeper had been treated and released, and the other “sustained more significant injuries and remains in medical care.”

A necropsy conducted by Michigan City Animal Hospital confirmed that Echo, who had lived at the zoo her entire life, died of natural causes, “specifically a ruptured splenic mass.”

Action take by Born Free USA:

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