Was the security of Thoiry Zoo (France) lacking? A few days after being seriously injured by wolves in the Yvelines animal park, a jogger filed a complaint for failure to comply with a security obligation on the part of the establishment.
An investigation into unintentional injuries was opened by the Versailles public prosecutor’s office after this 37-year-old woman was bitten by three wolves, from her calves to her neck, in an area normally prohibited to pedestrians.
Hospitalized in absolute emergency, she is now in a stable condition, but is not able to speak due to an injury to the larynx, said her lawyer, Cosima Ouhioun.
“She hopes that her case serves to establish sufficient standards of safety in this animal park so that this never happens again.“, declared Me Ouhioun.
In a report submitted Wednesday to the Mantes-la-Jolie gendarmerie brigade, the victim said she arrived in Thoiry at the end of the day on Saturday with her mother and her 2-year-old son and stayed in a “loudge“, accommodation located “in the heart of the vast massif of white wolves“, according to the zoo website.
The thirty-year-old says she found no vigilance instructions in the house, protected by an iron guardrail for the part overlooking the wolf enclosure and a wooden fence for the rest.
She also did not receive any special instructions from the park team. The next morning before her scheduled departure at 10 a.m. and after her breakfast, she wanted to go jogging, assuring that a ranger had confirmed to her the evening before that this did not present any danger, the animals being in enclosures .
The thirty-year-old claims to have followed a tarmac track until reaching the level of the “American safari” of the zoo, without encountering any clear indication that wild animals could be found in the wild.
She also says she encountered staff members on her way who did not alert her to a possible risk.
Health surveillance
The jogger explains that she only saw a green sign with text, but without any signage suggesting a ban on the perimeter for pedestrians. According to the CEO of Wow Safari Thoiry, Christelle Bercheny, interviewed on Sunday, this type of sign reminds us of “the rules of survival” to follow in the park.
Ms. Bercheny also mentioned the presence of “electrified plates that limit animal exit access“, more “do not intervene on human beings“. Shortly after passing the green sign that she mistook for an educational sign, the woman saw a bear on her left and a wolf on her right. Despite her attempt to remain calm, maintain eye contact and beat while retreating, she was spotted by the wolf, who followed her and attacked her calves.
Two other wolves joined the first and bit the victim on the thighs and back, causing her to fall, then attacked her neck and grabbed her hair. The jogger, who thought she was going to die, said she was rescued by a caregiver who heard her scream, then was quickly taken care of by the firefighters and the SAMU.
The Thoiry zoo indicated on Sunday that it had opened an internal investigation for “analyze all the circumstances which may have led to this accident“, specifying that they are not in possession at this stage”of no element” concerning a possible technical or human failure.
On Wednesday, in a press release, the establishment said to renew “his thoughts to the victim and his loved ones“and greeted”the team of animal caretakers who intervened immediately, securing the area and providing first aid before help arrived“.
The zoo added that the wolves were placed under health and behavioral monitoring for 30 days.
When asked, the animal park did not wish to react to the jogger’s complaint. The Versailles public prosecutor’s office has not communicated any new information on the investigation.
France Wolves zoo Thoiry zoo
