A 22-year-old intern at a wildlife park in North Carolina was killed Sunday when a lion escaped from a locked area and attacked the team cleaning its pen, USA Today reports. Alexandra Black had recently graduated from Indiana University, and had only been working at the Conservators Center for about two weeks. After Black’s death, which reportedly happened almost immediately after the lion broke free, Caswell County sheriff’s deputies attempted to tranquilize the creature—but when that failed, they killed the beast in order to recover Black’s body, Sheriff Tony Darden Jr. said in a statement. The Conservators Center said a trained professional had been leading the cleanup efforts, but USA Today notes that the center had not sought accreditation from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Police are still investigating the circumstances that led to the lion’s escape.
