A 24-year-old zookeeper has died after being mauled by a tiger at the South Lakes Wild Animal Park.

Sarah McClay was flown via air ambulance to the Royal Preston Hospital after being attacked in the animal's enclosure at the Dalton-in-Furness zoo yesterday afternoon.

She died at around 8pm last night.

The young worker, who was from Barrow, sustained serious head and neck injuries in the incident, which was reported to Cumbria Police at 3.57pm.

A spokesman for the force said: "Police and Barrow Borough Council are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to this terrible incident.

"Sarah’s family are very shocked and distressed and request that they have privacy as they try to come to terms with their loss."

A North West Ambulance Service spokesman said the victim suffered 'very traumatic injuries' and had been 'very badly mauled'.

Police said members of the public were not at any risk during the incident.

In the aftermath of the attack, the tiger was securely locked in its enclosure.

The park closed early and all visitors had to leave.

It is understood Sarah started working at the zoo in March 2011 as a 'big cat keeper'.

She also graduated from the University of Cumbria in 2010 and went to Dalton's Dowdales School.

The zoo's owner David Gill told BBC Radio Five Live that the animal had been at the zoo since it was a cub.

He said Sarah was an experienced worker who worked with big cats most days of the week.

He described the incident as an 'absolute tragedy' but said the park would open as normal today.

In a statement on its Facebook page, South Lakes Wild Animal Park said: "With deep sadness and shock the whole staff of SLWAP would like to pass on our condolences and heart felt sympathy to Sarah's family and friends. She was a bubbly girl, full of life at 24 and she had a real passion for her big cats."

In an earlier post, the park said the tiger was unharmed and would remain so.

A tribute page has also been set up on Facebook by Sarah's friends called 'RIP Sarah McClay', saying she 'died doing what she loved'.

Inspector Phil Davidson, Cumbria Police's force incident manager, told the Gazette: "The incident was reported to police at three minutes before four this afternoon.

"An ambulance was at the scene within five minutes. Police were there soon after. Ambulance control alerted police.

"The lady was treated at the scene and stabilised and airlifted to Preston. Unfortunately she died at around 8pm."

Insp Davidson said Kendal-based Detective Chief Inspector Bob Qazi was in charge of the investigation into the tragedy, but that he expected the Health and Safety Executive to take the lead role.

The zoo - which has a long record on conservation and care - regularly stages popular tiger feeding demonstrations for the public.

It involves staff entering the enclosure to leave meat for the animals on 'tree-top' stakes and then once safely away, the tigers are released to display their hunting prowess, and raise awareness of their plight in the wild.

Mr Gill has won plaudits for a long career in a range of conservation and educational projects both at the site and around the world.

The park keeps both Amur and Sumatran tigers.

It is believed the tiger involved was one of the critically-endangered Sumatran tigers, who has lived at the park for 10 years.

The zoo is also the headquarters for The Sumatran Tiger Trust which has raised over £1 million for campaigns and has helped prevent extinction of the breed.

They are found on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and is the smallest of the tigers alive today.

Males measure an average of 2.4 metres from nose to end of tail, and weigh between 100-170kg. There are as few as 350 left in the wild.

The zoo is regarded as one of the best in the UK and has regularly achieved acclaim from conservationists and visitors.

One of Cumbria's top attractions, the 17-acre site topped 300,000 visitors for the first time in 2011.

But since it opened in 1994, it has not been without incident and Mr Gill rarely out of the headlines.

In 1997, a rare white rhino had to be shot by Mr Gill only weeks after arriving at the zoo, when it escaped its compound and seriously injured itself.

He wrote of his upset at the shooting in his 2012 autobiography.

And in 2008, 31 of the park's 120 lemurs died in an accidental fire.

Cumbria Police and Barrow Borough Council - which is in charge of granting zoo licences -are investigating.

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