BURLINGTON, N.C. — A woman from New Palestine who dreamed of a career as a zookeeper was killed by a lion Sunday at a wildlife conservatory after the animal got loose from a locked space, the center said.
Alexandra Black, 22, had recently moved to North Carolina to begin an internship, her family said late Sunday. The lion was shot and killed after it attacked her in an enclosure that was being cleaned at the Conservators Center in Caswell County, the center said in a statement.
According to her profile on LinkedIn, Black graduated with honors from New Palestine High School in 2014. She graduated in May from Indiana University with a degree in animal behavior. She had completed three unpaid wildlife internships since 2017, according to the site. Most recently, she had worked at Wolf Park in Battle Ground, Indiana, and had moved to North Carolina 10 days ago, her family said.
“Alex loved animals,” the family said. “Our beautiful, intelligent, passionate Alex… was looking forward to this out-of-state internship at the Conservators Center.”
She wrote on her LinkedIn page that she wanted to become a zookeeper.
Authorities in North Carolina, meanwhile, were investigating how the incident happened.
A “husbandry team” led by a professionally trained animal keeper was carrying out a routine cleaning when the lion somehow got loose, the center said.
It wasn’t clear how the lion left the area that was supposed to be locked, said the center, which will be closed until further notice.
“The Conservators Center is devastated by the loss of a human life today,” the statement said.
The center said the lion was shot and killed to allow county personnel to retrieve the worker.
“This is an ongoing investigation; we have no further details at this time. We will offer more information as we know more,” the statement said.
The family, in its statement, added: “She was a beautiful young woman who had just started her career, there was a terrible accident, and we are mourning. But she died following her passion.”
The family asked that memorial contributions be made to Wolf Park.
The Conservators Center was founded in 1999 and is in Burlington, about 50 miles northwest of Raleigh.
On its website, the center said it began giving public tours in 2007 and gets more than 16,000 visitors annually. It has more than a dozen employees and currently houses more than 80 animals and more than 21 species.
The center says it took in 14 lions and tigers in 2004 to assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture with caring for animals that were living in “unacceptable conditions.”
A message seeking comment was left with a spokesman for the county sheriff’s office.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
