.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It was no laughing matter when a hyena bit off the finger of a keeper at the ABQ BioPark Zoo last November, an incident that city officials confirmed Tuesday.

Information about the incident was initially withheld while it was being investigated, zoo officials said.

Shelle Sanchez, director of the Albuquerque Department of Cultural Services, said a woman who works as a carnivore keeper, was carrying out her early morning duties on Nov. 7 checking on the animals before they were shifted from their private overnight spaces to their public exhibit spaces.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip

................................................................

The keeper was in the private space behind the exhibit and separated from the group of three hyenas – a mother and her two daughters – by a metal mesh fence. That’s when the 11-year-old mother, Smilla, pressed her neck to the fence.

Surveillance video from inside the enclosure shows the keeper scratching the animal through the mesh when the hyena suddenly latches on to the woman’s finger, who was able to pull free after about five seconds. She is seen running from the enclosure, cradling one hand in the other.

The keeper, who has not been identified by name, lost the middle finger on her left hand. An injury report taken by security officers from the city’s Department of Municipal Development says: “Left middle finger was amputated while tending to hyenas. Finger was eaten.”

“I won’t say keepers never touch hyenas, but there are very specific ways that that is supposed to happen, and in this case she definitely broke some protocols,” Sanchez said.

The keeper has been at the BioPark for 13 years and has worked with Smilla for more than eight years. She is still employed there. Sanchez declined to say what, if any, disciplinary measures were taken, but she did say that there was “definitely some revisiting of protocols.”

Smilla, of course, was just doing what hyenas do.

“Keepers have a lot of training sessions with the animals and have a real rapport with them,” Sanchez said. “But there are very specific protocols because, at the end of the day, all of these animals can be dangerous. They are not pets, they are not domesticated.”

Still, Sanchez noted, the overall safety record at the BioPark is excellent, particularly when considering that there are 40 zookeepers tending to about 1,000 animals from more than 130 species.

Stephanie Stowell, associate BioPark director, said the relationship the keepers have with the animals in their care is important because “it allows the animals to voluntarily participate in their own health care,” and avoid more invasive procedures and the use of tranquilizers.

The animals are taught to press hard against the mesh fence, which gives the keepers an opportunity to draw blood, give injections and perform other health screenings,” Stowell said.

Scratching the hyenas is part of the training and bonding, but protocols dictate where on the animal’s bodies they can be scratched and under what circumstances, she said.

Although mistakes do happen, Stowell said, all the animal keepers are highly trained to provide the specialized care each animal requires for nutrition, husbandry, welfare and enrichment.

“Every day these folks show up and do an amazing job,” she said.