The Associated Press
FARMINGTON, Utah — A zookeeper at a Utah amusement park was hospitalized after being gored in the leg by a wildebeest.
Paramedics responded to a report of a goring Sunday at the Lagoon amusement park in Farmington, about 20 miles north of Salt Lake City, Davis County sheriff’s Sgt. Susan Poulsen said.
Farmington Fire Chief Guido Smith said responders found a 28-year-old female employee who had been gored during a feeding process, when she “came in contact with the animal’s horn.” The woman suffered an injury to her thigh and was transported to a Salt Lake City trauma center, where she was in serious but stable condition, he said.
He described the injury as a laceration.
Smith had no further details about how the injury happened but said the wildebeest was in its pen at the time, and there was “no evidence of anything out of control.”
Wildebeests are hooved mammals with ox-like heads and horse-like manes.
Lagoon amusement park spokesman Adam Leishman confirmed that the zookeeper was hospitalized but said he had no information about what led to the injury. He said the park keeps a number of exotic cats, bison, deer, warthogs and other animals.
Lagoon park also features rides, live entertainment and an Old West-themed village, according to its website.
Poulsen said Utah Occupational Safety and Health officials were looking into the workplace accident. Utah’s No. 2 labor official, Jaceson Maughan, declined to provide any additional details.