Woman fights for her life after wolf attack in French zoo

Three wolves at a zoo outside Paris have attacked a 37-year-old woman and she is now fighting for her life, a source familiar with the case and the local prosecutor’s office said.

The woman was bitten “on the neck, calf and back” in the zoo in Thoiry, about 40 kilometers west of the French capital, the source familiar with the case told AFP.

Maryvonne Caillibotte, chief prosecutor in Versailles, said the woman’s life was in danger.

The woman probably went jogging alone after spending the night with her family in a safari lodge at the zoo. The zoo’s website advertised overnight accommodation at prices ranging from 220 to 760 euros per night.

According to the zoo’s advertising, the lodges in the wolf zone promise “quiet, relaxation and switching off”. They offer “a unique, very intimate experience with the Arctic wolves, which you can see from your living room”.

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The woman “ended up in the safari zone, where cars are not allowed. There she was attacked by three wolves,” said Caillibotte.

She added that it was not clear “whether she made a mistake or whether the path was not clearly marked.”

First responders arrived on the scene “very quickly” and the wolves were “driven away and then returned to their territory,” Caillibotte said.

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The source familiar with the case said the woman must have gotten through “security systems, a ditch and an electric fence designed to keep the animals away.”

The police are investigating the incident.

Thoiry Zoo was founded in 1968 by Paul de la Panouse, owner of a local castle that had been in his family since the 16th century.

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In April, he recalled to the regional newspaper “L’Independant” how he first stocked the zoo with a ship full of 120 animals from Kenya.

De la Panouse sold the zoo to a group of investors in 2018.

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