Zoo keeper Rosa 'was trying to leave' tiger enclosure before attack

A keeper who was mauled to death by a tiger at a zoo appeared to have been trying to leave the enclosure when she was attacked, an inquest heard.

Rosa King, 33, was savaged by a Malayan male called Cicip at Hamerton Zoo Park in Cambridgeshire in May 2017.

At Tuesday's inquest hearing in Huntingdon, head keeper Katherine Adams said she believed Ms King was trying to leave the paddock when she was attacked.

“Where the (cleaning) bucket and everything were, it looked like she was just about at the gate,” she said.

She described Ms King as “very safety conscious” and said she "knew the risks".

But it is possible a vertical metal sliding gate - designed to ensure staff and tigers were not in the enclosure at the same time - may have been left open the previous night when Ms King was on duty.

Two gates used for keepers to access the enclosure, one wooden and one metal, were also found to be open immediately after the attack.

Ms Adams said the protocol was for a keeper to locate the tiger and ensure it was isolated before entering the enclosure.

Asked by assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire Nicholas Moss if there was any reason a keeper would enter the paddock while the sliding gate was open, Ms Adams said: “No, you just wouldn’t.”

The head keeper fought back tears as she described Ms King as her best friend.

She explained how the 33-year-old had been sharing night-feeding duties for a serval kitten and admitted that could have meant Ms King was tired.

It involved feeding the animal every three hours at its peak, including through the night, and was unpaid voluntary work that did not count as overtime, Ms Adams said.

Mr Moss asked: “Did Rosa say anything to you in relation to this kitten at any stage about tiredness resulting from taking care of the kitten?”

Ms Adams replied: “No, not to me, no.”

But a witness statement from another colleague, Amy Beardmore, claimed “a few times… Rosa did say that she was tired”.

Ms Adams said that if she had known Ms King was tired: “She wouldn’t have had it (the kitten) as many nights.

“We would have taken some more nights off her.”

She added: “I’ve never had any worries about Rosa and safety procedures.

“She knew exactly what she was doing.”

She said the zoo has since introduced a system where a tiger keeper entering the enclosure goes through procedures with a colleague over a handheld radio as they complete each task.

The inquest continues.