Zion Wildlife Gardens statement about fatal mauling

A statement by the Zion Wildlife Gardens about the fatal mauling of one of it's keepers by a white tiger follows:

This is an incredibly sad day for the Zion Wildlife Gardens as earlier today one of the parks senior cat handlers was attacked and tragically killed - while he was about to clean a cage - by one of our Tigers.

The Tiger involved in the attack has now been put down.

We are currently focusing on supporting the family of the employee who died tragically today and their colleagues here at Zion Wildlife Gardens who are devastated.

We will be organising counselling for all of our employees. We ask for your consideration at this difficult time and request you to please respect the privacy of those involved.

This dreadful event is being investigated by the authorities and we will be cooperating fully with the investigations.

Due to the investigations we are unable to comment further and the park will be closed until further notice.

- Zion Wildlife Gardens