Staring death in the face: Tiger pins terrified female zookeeper before brutally mauling her in extraordinary images… before visitors save her life

Tigers are the almost always the apex predators of whatever environment they find themselves in. 

Whether it be the lush jungles of India, or the bitterly cold heights of Russias Sikhote-Alin Mountains, tigers, like almost all animals, were born to roam free. 

This makes zoos exceedingly difficult places to safely keep them. No matter how much room they are given, an enclosure is an enclosure - they are forced to take on behaviours entirely unnatural to them, including being active during the day and waiting for their food to be delivered to them. 

Its no wonder that so many tigers kept in zoos lash out at their keepers, as this Russian zookeeper was unlucky enough to learn. 

The unnamed female keeper at the zoo, in the heart of Kaliningrad Zoo, Kaliningrad, was horrifically mauled by the big cat, Typhoon, after it sprang on her when the opportunity, an accidentally unlatched gate, presented itself. 

As the keeper fetched the predators food, Typhoon pounced on her. 

The savage animal was described by sources at the time of the attack in 2017 as aggressive and bad-tempered, though a source said: Typhoon has never before shown any aggression to zoo staff.

This brought little comfort to the zookeeper, with alarming pictures show the woman on her back on the ground with the tiger on top of her, seemingly about to go in for the kill.

A female zookeeper in Russia is lucky to be alive after she was badly mauled by a male tiger while taking it food. Part of the animals cage was accidentally left open, allowing it to attack

Horrified visitors watched as Typhoon dragged the woman to the ground and began attacking her

Guests managed to distract the big cat by throwing stones, stick, and a table and bench from a nearby cafe into the enclosure, allowing the keeper to escape

But the keeper wasnt alone. With her, though much further away, were a set of visitors who upon seeing the distressing situation began throwing stones and screaming at Typhoon, distracting it. 

The commotion also alerted other visitors, who joined the onlookers and began helping the zookeeper by distracting it even more. 

Bloodied and battered, the keeper still had enough strength to escape. 

As soon as Typhoon left, the keeper was able to run to a secure part of the compound.

The girls face face was bleeding, said one account based on the accounts of witnesses.

She screamed and tried to fight off the animal..

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.

Typhoon (pictured) was described as aggressive and bad-tempered

The zoos have warnings in place not to lean over the barriers

A spokesman praised the visitors following the near-fatal incident. 

The animal entered the enclosure when the keeper was there, said a statement. The tiger attacked the human. 

Visitors with their shouting, stones and other improvisation managed to distract the animal. This allowed the zoo employee to hide in a back room.

It was even visitors who called an ambulance.

Later zoo staff arrived at the scene and shot a sedative into the tiger.

A local health ministry spokesman said at the time: The patient was delivered to the hospital with multiple wounds to the body and limbs.

She is conscious, her condition is assessed as stable but critical. There is no threat to her life.

The woman was taken to an intensive care unit at a hospital in Kaliningrad, a Russian region wedged between Poland and Lithuania, and a criminal investigation was opened.

The tiger was reported to be stressed after the attack, but would not be destroyed despite tasting human blood, said Russian zoo officials.

The animal, which also suffered a lot of stress, is in its enclosure, said a zoo statement.

A spokesman said: The Siberian tiger is a territorial animal. Protecting its territory is its natural instinct.

This animal acted in full accordance with its instinct. It was not aggression. It was the defence of its territory. 

The Siberian tiger was born on 1 July 2001 in Chelyabinsk Zoo and was later moved to Kaliningrad Zoo.

In the wild such tigers - a critically endangered species - have a life expectancy of 15 years.