Animal keeper injured by Persian panther at Beekse Bergen safari park

What happened

A keeper at Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek was attacked by a Persian panther on 24 October 2026, at about 11:00. The woman was doing her morning round alone in the indoor enclosure that houses two Persian panthers, and a park spokesperson said she was following protocol. Colleagues found her within the quarter hour, separated the panther from her with a gate and gave first aid. A trauma helicopter then flew her to hospital, where she was taken into surgery. Park spokeswoman Linda Engels said she had been conscious during the afternoon but that her condition is worrying.

The keeper and her background

The keeper is a woman in her fifties who has worked at the park for 25 years, eight of them with predators, according to AD and De Standaard. Sources disagree on her nationality: De Standaard describes a Dutch keeper living in Belgium, while Gelderlander and Le Soir report that she is Belgian. Martin van Hees, head of animal care, called her a very experienced colleague who is always alert to safety. He said he was at home when he heard the news and that other keepers are badly shaken, even though they know the risks exist. He described the attack as follows:

“It is deeply sad that this has happened.”

Unanswered questions

The park has not yet established what went wrong. The Labour Inspectorate visited the park in the afternoon and will examine whether the safety protocol was followed, a check that matters because keepers and predators are normally separated by fences. It is still unclear whether both panthers attacked her. A female colleague working in a neighbouring enclosure heard her screams, while a second colleague who was outside the enclosure may not have seen the attack. Victim support has been arranged for the colleagues involved. Engels summed up the uncertainty:

“We genuinely do not know what happened. That makes it very intense.”

Context and what comes next

Gelderlander describes attacks by predators on keepers in Dutch zoos as extremely rare, and Dutch parks use strict rules such as the protected contact principle, under which keepers are never in the same space as dangerous predators. The same outlet recalls a 2001 incident at Ouwehands Dierenpark, where a lion attacked an experienced keeper, and an occupational health study that found human error: a sliding door had not been locked properly. A park press conference was scheduled for 17:00 that afternoon. Engels added the following about the next steps:

“It is still too early to draw conclusions. Our concern now goes primarily to this keeper, her family and the colleagues involved.”

The investigation into the cause is still open, and the keeper's condition has not been updated beyond the afternoon reports.