Woman killed by caged lion in California died of broken neck

The Cat Haven, a private sanctuary east of Fresno, remained closed on Thursday, a day after Dianna Hanson was killed by a 350-lb (160-kg) male Barbary lion named Cous Cous that attacked her inside an enclosure. Hanson was from the Seattle area.

“The young lady did not suffer because she died almost instantly from a fractured neck,” Fresno County Coroner Dr. David Hadden told Reuters.

An autopsy conducted on Thursday showed bite and claw marks on Hanson from “the lion playing with the body like a cat would play with a mouse,” Hadden said.

Hadden told several news organizations, including CNN and the Fresno Bee newspaper, that the lion may have used its paw to pry open a gate separating its pen from the larger enclosure to attack Hanson while she was cleaning it. But that could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters.

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