An eight-year-old child is in critical condition after being mauled by a wolf at the Johannismühle wildlife park in Brandenburg, Germany, on Wednesday morning. The child was airlifted by a rescue helicopter from Berlin to a trauma centre in Marzahn.
Incident before park opening
The attack occurred before the park had opened for the day, and it is not yet known how or why the child came to be inside the enclosure. Reports from German newspaper Bild indicate that emergency responders were at the scene in the morning.
It is understood that the child may have been part of a programme where visitors can pretend to be zookeepers, which allows them to feed animals.
Police response
A spokesperson for local police said that reports of an animal attack were received at 9.30am, though the reports did not specify what kind of animal was involved. The spokesperson said: “We received information this morning at 9:30am that a child in the Baruth area was allegedly attacked and injured by one or more animals. A rescue helicopter landed there. Investigators are on site.”
A notice on the park's website now reads: "Caution: The wildlife park will be closed until 2 November." The park, which is around 28 miles from Berlin, was closed today after the incident.
Injuries and support
The child has reportedly sustained a severe head injury. Staff have reportedly received emotional support from emergency teams due to the distressing incident, according to the Daily Mail.
The park is home to wolves, birds and wildcats.
Context of recent incidents
Earlier this month, a man died after he entered a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. William Chapman climbed two fences and entered the enclosure on October 10. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and his cause of death was later listed as “multiple traumatic injuries” in his post-mortem. An inquest into his death said he had a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia, and that he had at times experienced bouts of psychosis.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park later confirmed that the tiger was unharmed following the incident and would not be put down. The park said the tiger was “safe and well and will not be euthanized as a result of this incident”. The wildlife park has said it is working closely with authorities to establish exactly what happened. It said in a statement: “The safety and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and animals remain our highest priority.” City of Doncaster Council, the licensing authority for the wildlife park, has launched a health and safety investigation into the incident.
Express.co.uk has contacted Johannismühle wildlife park for comment.
