The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium confirmed that one of its zookeepers was treated after a cheetah attack Thursday morning (March 11).
The zookeeper has since been released, according to ABC News.
Two employees were walking a cheetah, Isabelle, around 10 a.m. when the incident happened, zoo officials confirmed to ABC News. The walk was part of Isabelle’s daily exercise routine and she was properly harnessed at the time, as the zoo’s protocol outlines.
The 4-year-old cheetah was “calm and purring” at first, but when the zoo keeper approached her and the two employees, “Isabelle crouched down and lunged,” the zoo said in a statement. ABC News reported that officials believe that, because the keeper typically works with giraffes and other animals, “the scent of these other animals on the keeper triggered a natural instinct in Isabelle, who reacted,” officials said in a statement. “This is Isabelle’s first incident and as per the Delaware County General Health District, she will be placed in a 30-day quarantine just to ensure that she does not show signs of illness.”
The exact cause of the incident, however, remains under investigation.
The apparent attack happened in an area that’s not accessible to the public, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The Dispatch also noted Isabelle is known as the surrogate to the first cheetah cubs in the world to be born via in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, which happened last year.
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