Woman files complaint against zoo over wolf attack
A woman seriously injured by wolves at the weekend while jogging in a safari park outside Paris has filed a criminal complaint against the attraction, her lawyer told AFP.
The Thoiry zoo west of Paris failed to meet its safety obligations, the 37-year-old woman argues, after she was attacked by three wolves in an area normally off-limits to pedestrians.
Prosecutors in nearby Versailles have already opened a case into suspected unintentional wounding.
The woman's condition has stabilised after she was rushed to hospital, but she is unable to speak because of the injuries to her larynx, her lawyer Cosima Ouhioun said.
"She hopes her case will serve to set adequate safety standards in the animal park so that this never happens again," Ouihoun added.
In a police report seen by AFP, the woman said she had arrived at Thoiry late Saturday with her mother and two-year-old son to stay in a lodge in the park's wolf zone.
Such stays are advertised on Thoiry's website at between 220 and 760 euros per night, promising "silence, rest and disconnection."
She set out for a jog on Sunday morning ahead of their planned departure—insisting that a park ranger had told her there was no danger as the animals were kept in enclosures.
Following a path, she reached the zoo's "American safari" zone without encountering any warning that animals might be roaming free.
On her way, she encountered a single green sign with text—but no danger symbols indicating danger to pedestrians.
Chief executive of Wow Safari Thoiry, Christelle Bercheny, said such signs communicate a "survival guide" for the park.
Soon after passing the sign, the woman reported seeing a bear to her left and a wolf to the right.
She tried to stay calm and maintain eye contact as she withdrew, but was spotted by the wolf, who chased her and attacked her calves.
Two more joined in the attack, biting her on the thighs and back and bringing her down before attacking her throat.
A zookeeper who was in the area intervened after hearing her screams for help and quickly called first responders.
Thoiry zoo said Sunday it had opened an internal investigation to "analyse all the circumstances that may have led to this accident." (AFP)