BURLINGTON, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on a fatal attack by a lion on an intern at a wildlife center (all times local):
4:05 p.m.
An intern fatally attacked by a lion at a North Carolina wildlife center is being remembered as a sweet person and wonderful student.
Alexandra Black, who died Sunday at the Conservators Center near Burlington, graduated in May 2018 from Indiana University after completing the degree program at its Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior.
The university center’s director, Cara Wellman, says Black’s death has stunned and saddened faculty members, who were thinking about her parents.
Wellman says the program has about 100 students pursuing majors in the close-knit program on the Bloomington campus.
She recalled Black as “quiet and sweet” and added her stated passion was animal husbandry, the study of breeding and caring for animals.
Says Wellman: “She was very energetic and committed to animal behavior and pursuing a career in animal husbandry.”
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2:35 p.m.
A federal inspector found no problems at a North Carolina wildlife center in two inspections preceding a lion’s fatal attack on a young intern there.
Authorities say 22-year-old Alexandra Black of New Palestine, Indiana, was killed by the lion during a routine cleaning Sunday at the Conservators Center near Burlington.
According to government reports, nothing out of compliance was found at the center during inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in April 2018 or January 2017. The government inspector counted 16 lions, three tigers and two leopards among 85 animals during the 2018 site visit.
No workplace safety complaints were found in an online search of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
A center spokeswoman, Taylor Sharp, said no one was available Monday to discuss the center’s safety protocols. The center notes on its website that it’s not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
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9 a.m.
A young woman who was killed by a lion at a North Carolina wildlife center is being remembered for her passionate pursuit of a career working with animals.
Authorities say 22-year-old Alexandra Black of New Palestine, Indiana, was killed by the lion during a routine cleaning Sunday at the Conservators Center near Burlington.
She had started interning at the facility about two weeks ago.
According to a statement from her family, the recent college graduate had also interned at a wolf research center in Indiana.
The North Carolina center’s executive director, Mindy Stinner, told reporters Sunday that Black wanted to spend her life working with animals and that her family supported her passion.
Stinner says that Black was working under staff supervision when she was attacked.
