Let me start by expressing my condolences to the family of the intern killed at Cat Haven. An innocent (and young) life was taken while she was just doing her job, and that is truly heartbreaking. The point of this post is not to downplay that at all - it was absolutely a tragedy.
But what was the point of killing the lion? If he was in the process of doing whatever it was that he did to her, and they needed to kill him in order to rescue her, I can potentially justify it. But this happened after the fact. What was done had already been done.
You can't kill a lion for being a lion. You can't kill a wild animal for acting like a wild animal.
And it really does pain me to write this, because I don't want to seem coldhearted or insensitive, and I truly am sad for everyone affected by this, but she should not have been in that enclosure with him.
The Vice President of the Humane Society, Nicole Paquette, said in an article by the San Francisco Chronicle, "These are big cats that are extremely dangerous, and they placed a volunteer in the actual cage with a wild animal. That should have never happened." And she's right; this should have never happened.
Lions are beautiful animals. They're also dangerous animals. If you aren't properly trained to be around them, then you absolutely should not be around them. These are not domestic cats.
Like I said before, you can't kill a lion for being a lion.
I'm sorry for the woman who lost her life, and I'm sorry for her family. But I'm also sorry for the lion who was killed for acting the only way he knows how. His species of lion is already extinct in the wild; let's not kill them off altogether. And does anyone know if Cat Haven had a tranquilizer gun on site? That should have been readily available. I'm sure places like that don't anticipate needing to actually use one, but you need to be prepared.
Take a look at this video; this is the exact same lion that was killed today. He was on the Ellen DeGeneres show when he was a cub:
What happened today, to both the intern and the lion, should have been prevented.
Update: Articles published since this first happened have basically enforced the fact that this is truly was an accident - and a tragic one at that. The parents of Dianna Hanson are asking the public to donate to conservation groups, such as Cat Haven, in Dianna's memory. You can donate to Cat Haven here.
