By Paloma Chavez
The Charlotte Observer
UTICA, N.Y. 鈥� A New York zoo was closed to the public for a day after a zookeeper was bitten by a lion, officials said.
First responders were called to on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Utica Fire Department said in a Facebook post. A zookeeper was doing a 鈥渞outine feeding and closing procedure鈥� when they 鈥渃ame in contact鈥� with one of the and were injured, the zoo said in a news release.
The keeper was sent to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, the zoo said.
During the incident, the lions didn鈥檛 have access to the outside of their enclosure and no other staff or any members of the public were put at risk, officials said.
The zoo said it contacted the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to inform it of the attack.
鈥淭here will be no punitive action against our lions,鈥� Andria Heath, executive director of the Utica Zoo, said in the release. 鈥淎n incident occurred which is being reviewed, will be learned from and we are all grateful our staff and animals are okay.鈥�
The from the hospital on Oct. 17, according to WKTV.
McClatchy News reached out to Utica Zoo on Oct. 18 for more information and is awaiting a response.
The zoo said it Wednesday, Oct. 18, to allow staff 鈥渢ime to focus on the care of themselves, as well as the animals鈥� and reopen Thursday, Oct. 19.
Utica is about 250 miles northwest of New York City.
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