Yahoo News Mum's tearful tribute during 'distressing' inquest to 'caring' zookeeper daughter mauled by tiger
The mother of a zookeeper who was mauled to death by a tiger in a zoo enclosure has paid tribute to her daughter, saying she “followed her dreams”.
Rosa King, 33, died at Hamerton Zoo in Cambridgeshire in what management described as a “freak accident”.
Jurors at an inquest into her death, which began on Monday, were warned the hearing will include “distressing” evidence.
Her mother, Andrea King, who attended the hearing with Rosa’s father, Peter, burst into tears when talking about her daughter at the inquest.
“She couldn’t have been a better daughter and the family are very proud of all her achievements,” said Mrs King.
She described Rosa as a “generous, kind, caring compassionate person” who “lived life to the full and followed her dreams”.
Mrs King said it was clear from the age of two that Rosa would end up working with animals.
“Family days out were often spent visiting zoos and animal parks,” she said.
Mrs King said: “It wasn't very often you wouldn't see her with a smile on her face."
Ms King, who worked at the zoo for 13 years, did not express concerns about working conditions, her mother said.
"She thought two people working together wasn't as safe as it would be easier to become complacent," she said.
Earlier, Cambridgeshire’s assistant coroner Nicholas Moss told the inquest jury in Huntingdon: “As you can imagine, some of the evidence in this case may be distressing.”
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Jurors heard how Ms King was dragged across a paddock by a rare Malayan tiger called Cicip.
Ms King was discovered by a visitor in the public viewing area who raised the alarm, the inquest heard.
She was cleaning the windows of the tiger enclosure when she was attacked by Cicip. She died at the scene.
Mr Moss said that immediately after the attack two gates and a metal vertical slide, designed to ensure staff and tigers were not in the paddock at the same time, were found to have been open.
Ms King, who was working alone, entered the enclosure shortly before the zoo opened to the public at 10am.
The male tiger Cicip "would tend to urinate on the windows during the day so they need to be cleaned so the public have a good view", Mr Moss said.
Frank York, a visitor to the zoo, saw her body from the viewing area and raised the alarm. Keepers fetched the zoo's tranquiliser gun, while armed firearms officers and paramedics attended. Neither the tranquiliser nor police firearms were used.
Mr Moss said keepers "were able to entice Cicip back into his run and the slide was closed behind him to make the area safe again".
He added: "It had been apparent from as soon as Rosa was seen that she had died."
Her death was formally pronounced at 11.46am, with her many injuries including lacerations and puncture wounds.
Mr Moss said "immediately after the attack" the slide intended to separate the main paddock from a run leading to the tiger house was found to be in the open position.
The slide was raised and lowered by wires attached to a system of pulleys. The two gates used by keepers to access the paddock, one wooden and one metal, were also both open, Mr Moss said.
"We're going to need to explore how that happened and what the reason for that was," he said.
Mr Moss said a police investigation "suggested there was not any mechanical fault with the gates and slides".
The inquest will hear evidence about the system used to ensure staff could not enter the paddock when tigers were present and whether that system "allowed protection against human error by the zookeeper who was in the tiger area", Mr Moss said.
The inquest heard Ms King worked 45 hours a week during the summer months and also worked some overtime.
The tiger was not put down after the incident and the decision was supported by her family, the park's director Andrew Swales said at the time.
He said: "Rosa was the life and soul of Hamerton Zoo Park.
"She loved working with the animals, particularly the big cats, and was an inspiration to those of us lucky enough to work with her as well as many visitors who benefited from her incredible knowledge of and passion for wildlife."
The inquest is set to last for two weeks.
