ZOO owner David Gill has described the horrifying moments after hearing one of his keepers had been attacked by a tiger.

The owner of South Lakes Wild Animal Park at Dalton spoke following the death of 24-year-old Sarah McClay yesterday evening.

He said the attack by a Sumatran tiger was ‘all over in seconds’ and there was nothing anyone at the zoo could have done to help her.

And he said he and other members of staff could not understand why Sarah, who had been in charge of big cats at the park for the last 15 months, had chosen to enter the tigers’ enclosure.

“At about 4pm there was a message over the radio that a tiger had a keeper,” he said. “A member of the public had seen the incident unfolding and reported it.

“Immediately we left for the tiger enclosure and I was only 30 seconds away. I broke the firearms out as per procedure and tried to shoot the tiger, which had Sarah, from different sides of the pen.

“Unfortunately Sarah was between me and the tiger and I couldn’t get a clear shot. I fired off two shots which, with the noise and commotion, were enough to scare the tigers back into the den.

“We were then able to do a full lockdown with the tigers inside.”

Mr Gill said Sarah had gone into the tiger house to work with the jaguars, living nearby. But he said she had no reason to have any contact with the tigers, and that she had unlocked a gate to their enclosure with three safety bolts.

“We have been working with the same system for 17 years and never had any incident whatsoever,” he said. “The safety protocol means you lock the first door behind you so that the public can’t come in or if the second gate fails for some reason, the tigers can’t get out. 

“Sarah would always message over the walkie talkies to say when she was entering or leaving an enclosure.

“She followed protocol up until that last point. But from that moment no message was received about anything to do with tigers.

“There was no reason to into the enclosure. There was no situation that would have dictated that she should have gone in.”

Housed in the enclosure were Sumatran tigers Padang and Alisha, a breeding pair. Mr Gill said both tigers had attacked Sarah to start with, but the larger male Padang had dragged her from the den out into the open enclosure through a hatch in the wall.

She sustained head and neck injuries and despite the best efforts of paramedics after she was airlifted to Royal Preston Hospital, she died at 8pm last night.

Mr Gill said staff at the zoo were ‘completely devastated’, describing the team as a ‘big family’.

“It is just a tragic thing to happen and of course my first thoughts are with Sarah’s friends and family and I send my deepest sympathies to them.”

“Sarah had an exceptionally bright, bubbly character. She was very well-liked by everybody and was very good at her job. Knowing she was such a professional makes the situation even more illogical.”

The two tigers involved in the attack were at the zoo but kept out of public view today.

Mr Gill said he had been advised that they did not have to be put down as they had not done anything they should not have done.

And he also defended a decision to open the zoo the day after the tragedy.

“I had a meeting with the team last night and again this morning. It was a difficult decision but it was their feeling that Sarah would have wanted us to stay open.”

Cumbria Police said they are continuing to investigate the incident and working to establish whether the attack was a result of human or technical factors.

A spokesman said: “At this time police are conducting enquiries on behalf of HM Coroner and are not currently treating this as a criminal investigation.

“Officers have also liaised with Barrow Borough Council who licence the park regarding events.

“However, until the investigation is completed police are keeping an open mind as to the exact causes of this tragedy.”

Detective Chief Inspector Bob Qazi said: “Our thoughts at this time are with the family and friends of Sarah and we will continue our investigation to establish the exact details of what happened as soon and as thoroughly as possible.”