Tigers badly injured caretaker woman at Tbilisi Zoo

By Tatia Megeneishvili

Thursday, may 28

Doctors had to amputate a hand of a zoo employee who was attacked by tigers

Tbilisi Zoo Administration states that the injured woman has been working there for 25 years

Animal Caretaker Guliko Tchitadze was badly injured by tigers on May 26. Incident took place when Tchitadze was in a working zone, near the tiger open air cage.

According to Tbilisi Zoo administration, Tchitadze has worked as a caretaker for 25 years.

“This woman has grown up almost all the baby animals in our zoo. The tiger which injured her was also raised by her. We are trying to figure out what happened and why the animal attacked the caretaker. This tiger has not been behaving aggressively before,” reads the statement released by Tbilisi Zoo administration.

Tchitaze has been operated on in Tbilisi Republican Hospital. According to doctors, Tchitadze’s health condition is very hard.

“The patient has been operated on. Unfortunately, we had to amputate her hand. Despite very deep wounds, we are trying to save her leg. She has injuries all over the body and there is also a risk of infection,” stated the doctor.