WOLF ATTACK INJURES GIRL AT GERMAN WILDLIFE PARK

Police said a wolf attacked and seriously injured a girl inside an enclosure at Johannismühle wildlife park in Brandenburg, Germany, on Wednesday. She had entered with a staff member and two other children; no one else was injured. Paramedics treated her at the scene before a helicopter took her to hospital. She suffered severe head injuries and remained in a critical condition at a specialist trauma clinic in Marzahn. A police spokesperson said officers received a call about the attack at 09:30 local time.

The attack happened before the park opened to the public at 10:00 local time. Johannismühle offers small-group visits that include feeding wolves and petting a llama, but investigators have not said why the children were inside the enclosure. Police said the “precise circumstances of the incident are the subject of an ongoing police investigation”. The park keeps grey and arctic wolves, as well as brown bears and lynx. Staff at Johannismühle are receiving psychological support.

Johannismühle said on its website that it had closed temporarily and planned to reopen on 2 November. The website gave no further details about the closure. At Safaripark Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands, a keeper died this week after a leopard attacked her. She underwent emergency surgery after suffering head injuries and died three days after the attack. A tiger killed a man at Yorkshire Wildlife Park earlier this month.