TRAGIC!! Woman, 22, Killed by Lion two Weeks After Working at a Natural Reserve Park - PHOTO

Tragic struck a young woman of 22-years-old was attacked and killed by lion two weeks after working at a Natural Reserve park.

Alexandra Black, 22, from New Palestine, Indiana, had only worked at the Conservators Center in North Carolina for two weeks before she was tragically killed on Sunday.


She had recently graduated from Indiana State University before joining the center as a college intern, police said.

Alexandra was killed when one of the lions somehow escaped the locked facility and got into a staff area where it fatally attacked her.

The animal was shot dead by police when attempts to tranquilize it failed so they could retrieve her body.

"Our beautiful, intelligent, passionate Alex had worked, unpaid, at several animal-related ventures," her family said in a statement. "This was her fourth internship, because she really wanted to make a career of working with animals."

While her colleagues say they are "devastated".

In a statement earlier today, they said: "The Conservators Center is devastated by the loss of a human life today.

"While a husbandry team led by a professionally trained animal keeper was carrying out a routine enclosure cleaning, one of the lions somehow left a locked space and entered the space the humans were in and quickly killed one person.

"It is unclear at this time how the lion left the locked enclosure.

"The lion was shot and killed to allow Caswell County personnel to retrieve the worker.

"This is an ongoing investigation, we have no further details at this time, and the family has not yet been notified."

It added: "We will offer more information as we know more. The Conservators Center will be closed until further notice."

Alexandra before her death