Nadezhda Srivastava was brutally attacked by a tiger as she was bringing it food
This is the first picture of Nadezhda Srivastava, the zookeeper brutally attacked by a Siberian tiger as she was bringing it food.
Horrifying pictures showed how the beast, named Typhoon, savaged the animal-lover, pinning her to the ground as it mauled and clawed her at Kaliningrad zoo in Russia.
Heroic visitors saved her life by shouting, screaming, throwing stones at the tiger and picking up a table and chairs from a nearby cafe and hurling them into the compound.
Today, the zoo squarely blamed 44-year-old Nadezhda – whose first name means Hope – for the horror, claiming she had violated safety rules as she took food to the tiger.
One local account said the mother of three’s escape was ‘miraculous’. Another said she had been ‘incredibly lucky’ to be able to flee.
The actions of visitors distracted the animal long enough for the doctor’s wife Nadezhda – who fought the beast’s attempt to kill her – to flee to safety in part of the predator’s enclosure.
The zoo did not explain further how the regulations were breached but it is believed the tiger was not properly isolated in a safe area before she entered its compound.
‘The injured employee has been transferred to regional clinical hospital,’ said the spokesman for Kaliningrad Zoo.
‘Her condition is stable. There is no threat to her life. According to preliminary information obtained during our internal investigation, the reason of the tragedy was the violation of security regulations by the employee while conducting her duties.’
Witnesses described the horrifying moment a Siberian tiger attacked the female zookeeper in Russia. Nadezhda survived the attack but has been blamed for violating health and safety rules
Horrified witnesses have described the attack, at Kaliningrad Zoo in Russia. They told how the tiger gnawed on the 44-year-old, leaving her covered in blood
Guests managed to distract the big cat by throwing stones, stick, and a table and bench from a nearby cafe into the enclosure, allowing the keeper to escape
Her husband Dr Nitesh Srivastava, a doctor from India working in Russia, said today his wife was ‘stable’ in intensive care but had ‘multiple fractures’ and thanked well-wishers for their support.
A zoo spokesman admitted the quick-thinking by ordinary people had been ‘crucial’ to her survival.
He said: ‘The patient was taken to the emergency department of the hospital with numerous wounds to her body and limbs. She is not in a coma. Her condition was evaluated as grave – but stable.
‘There is no threat to her life. All the necessary medical help has been provided.’
Nadezha has taken her own photographs of tigers and other wildlife in Kaliningrad Zoo – believed to include the animal that attacked her.
Male Siberian – or Amur – tigers are the biggest big cats on the planet.
Ekaterina Mikhailova, press secretary of Kaliningrad Zoo, said: ‘The safety rules were violated while working at the facility.
Typhoon was born in captivity in Chelyabinsk Zoo in 2001 before being moved to Kaliningrad. Keepers say he has no history of attacking staff, but was described as ‘bad tempered’ and ‘aggressive’
‘Now the task is to find out why an experienced employee could perform such a violation.’
Witness Viktoria Bolshakova said: ‘It was very scary. We were throwing everything we could see around into the animal’s cage.
She revealed: ‘The wounded woman was covered in blood on her face, her arms, and legs. He was biting her arms.
‘She tried to protect herself but he reacted to her attempts more aggressively with each moment.
‘We realised that we were making him even more angry when we were throwing stones and sticks at him. Many visitors tried to help other zoo workers. They lifted up benches and rubbish bins and threw these at the animal.
‘At one moment the tiger got afraid and retreated few feet from the woman. She ran away into an indoor facility.
The victim’s husband Dr Nitesh Srivastava (pictured), a doctor from India working in Russia, said today his wife was ‘stable’ in intensive care but had ‘multiple fractures’ and thanked well-wishers for their support.
Another witness called Natalia said: ‘My daughter and I went to the zoo and immediately to the cage where the tiger lives, but the sight was terrible. When we got there, the woman was already bitten, (and) all covered in blood’ (file photo)
‘The ambulance came in about half an hour and other emergency services too.
‘Only then did a zoo worker with a gun come up and begin to shoot at the animal with sedatives.’
Another witness said the woman’s face ‘was bleeding’. She ‘screamed and tried to fight off the animal’.
The 16-year-old male tiger called Taifun, or Typhoon, has never attacked a keeper before.
After the attack, other zoo staff said the big cat appeared ‘stunned’ over the commotion.
Usually in such circumstances, a big cat attacking a human is put down. But Taifun will not be destroyed.
The tiger was not supposed to be able to reach the keeper when she was feeding him.
A review is underway as to what went wrong with the first conclusions holding the keeper responsible.
A spokesman said: ‘The Siberian tiger is a territorial animal. Protecting its territory is its natural instinct. This animal acted in full accordance with its instinct. It was not aggression. It was the defence of its territory.’