This is an excerpt from an article written by Nica Richards and published online by The Citizen on 07 July, 2021
The victim from Belgium was encouraged by the facility to keep quiet about the incident.
An recent incident at a captive wildlife facility in South Africa has once again thrown the questionable industry into the spotlight.
A young woman volunteer from Belgium was left traumatised after she was attacked by a captive cheetah at the facility last month, Blood Lions said in a statement on Wednesday.
The victim, Amandine Lequime, was said to have been filming the outside of the cheetah’s enclosure while her colleague was on feeding duty.
As soon as the enclosure gate was opened, a cheetah jumped on Lequime’s back, aiming for her throat.
Recalling the incident, she said when she fell to the ground, the cheetah “continued to bite and claw my arms and legs until the facility manager succeeded in getting the cheetah away from me”.
Lequime ended up in hospital and received treatment and stitches for several deep bite marks and cuts. She now has muscle damage.