Zoo Finds Partly Eaten Body In Lion’s Den

A partially devoured woman’s body was found early Saturday in the outdoor lion enclosure at the National Zoo. A zoo official said two lions were in the enclosure at the time.

Police Department spokesman Sergeant Joe Gentile said the cause of the woman’s death had not been established. She was not immediately identified.

A zookeeper going to feed the lions discovered the body at about 7 a.m. He coaxed the animals back into the lion house and called police.

A spokesman for the zoo, Marc Bretzfelder, said the dead woman was not a zoo employee.

“She somehow got past a railing, a four-foot barrier, three warning signs, and dropped into a water-filled moat in the lion exhibit,” the zoo said in a statement.