Siberian tiger attack her keeper in a Russian zoo.

A huge Siberian tiger has attacked and mauled a young zookeeper in full view of horrified visitors. 

The animal sprang on the woman as she brought the 16-year-old male food, with pictures showing the woman on her back as the tiger seemingly goes in for the kill.

The woman’s life was saved by the shocked onlookers who shouted, threw stones and even hurled tables and chairs from a nearby cafe to distract the tiger called Taifun, or Typhoon.

The commotion alerted other visitors who ran to join the onlookers and the woman was able to run to a secure part of the compound. The unnamed zookeeper from Kaliningrad in Russia was badly hurt and suffering from multiple injuries and was rushed to hospital – but she is expected to survive.

The woman was badly hurt in the attack. One witness said: ‘The girl’s face was bleeding. ‘She screamed and tried to fight off the animal.’ Other zoo employees were not present at the moment of the surprise attack, and it was down to the Russian visitors to save the keeper.

The Siberian tiger – the largest cat in the world – was supposed to be contained in another part of its compound when the woman brought its food. But there was clearly a problem and the cat – described as ‘elderly’ – was able to attack.

Source. Metro U.K.