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A Belgian woman was volunteering at a captive wildlife facility in South Africa last month, when she was attacked by one of the cheetahs kept on the property.

The facility apparently tried to keep the incident under wraps but it has since come to light via a video shared by the victim, Amandine Lequime.

Blood Lions, an organisation against canned hunts and captive cats, also released a statement yesterday, which has thrown more shade on the already questionable industry, reports The Citizen.

The organisation declined to say at which specific facility the incident occurred.

Lequime was allegedly filming the outside of the cheetah’s enclosure while her colleague was on feeding duty when the cheetah attacked:

She recalled that the big cat aimed for her throat, but only managed to “bite and claw” her arms and legs when she fell to the ground.

Finally, a facility manager succeeded in getting the cheetah away from her.

Lequime was left traumatised and ended up in the hospital, where she received treatment and stitches for several deep bite marks and cuts:

Image: Supplied to The Citizen

She also suffered muscle damage.

To make matters worse, not only did Lequime find out that the same cheetah had attacked the captive wildlife facility’s manager two years prior, causing neck and leg injuries, but she was also asked to stay hush about her incident:

She has broken her silence after refusing to let other volunteers go through “similar fighting experiences”.

“People need to understand that to be close to wild animals is appealing, but not safe,” she said.

Blood Lions campaign manager Dr Louise de Waal is concerned about the dangers of captive facilities housing wild animals, and the organisation is calling for an “immediate halt to tourist attractions with captive lions, including so-called voluntourism, [and] cub petting”.

[source:citizen]