Woman files complaint against French zoo over wolf attack

The public prosecutor’s office in nearby Versailles has already initiated proceedings on suspicion of negligent bodily harm.

The woman’s condition stabilized after she was admitted to hospital, but she was unable to speak due to injuries to her larynx, said her lawyer Cosima Ouhioun.

“She hopes her case will help establish appropriate safety standards at the zoo so that something like this never happens again,” Ouihoun added.

In a police report seen by AFP, the woman said she arrived in Thoiry late Saturday with her mother and two-year-old son to spend the night in a cabin in the park’s wolf zone.

Such stays are offered on Thoiry’s website at prices ranging from 220 to 760 euros (235-810 dollars) per night and promise “peace, relaxation and unwinding”.

She went jogging on Sunday morning before her planned departure – and insisted that a park ranger had told her there was no danger because the animals were kept in enclosures.

She followed a path and reached the zoo’s “American Safari” area without any warning that there might be animals roaming freely there.

On her way she encountered only a single green sign with text – but without any hazard symbols indicating a danger to pedestrians.

Christelle Bercheny, managing director of Wow Safari Thoiry, said such signs were a “survival manual” for the park.

Shortly after passing the sign, the woman reported seeing a bear to her left and a wolf to her right.

She tried to stay calm and maintain eye contact as she retreated, but was discovered by the wolf, which pursued her and attacked her calves.

Two others joined in the attack, biting her on the thighs and back, taking her to the ground and then attacking her throat.

A nearby zookeeper intervened after hearing her cries for help and quickly called first responders.

The Thoiry Zoo said on Sunday that it had launched an internal investigation to “analyze all the circumstances that could have led to this accident.”