A young Australian diplomat was mauled by lions at a wildlife park in Zimbabwe, but survived because her boyfriend scared the animals away, a report said on Sunday.
Gemma Huggins (27) was visiting the lion and cheetah park outside Harare when a lion grabbed her by the head and shook her, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The diplomat, who had arrived in Zimbabwe on her first foreign posting a month earlier, was lucky to survive after the lion’s teeth came within millimetres of her jugular vein, it said.
The paper said she was attacked by more than one animal.
Huggins was treated for severe injuries to her head, neck, torso and legs and had several skin grafts at the Unitas Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, it added.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that a diplomat from the high commission in Harare had been hospitalised after an unspecified incident at a wildlife park.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he would not discuss the details of the case.
”I gather she is all right, and I’m obviously relieved that she’s all right, but she has asked for us not to publicise her case and talk about the situation, so I’ll respect her wishes,” he told reporters in Adelaide.
The Sunday Telegraph said that Huggins, who is recovering at home in Canberra after weeks of extensive treatment in South Africa, is still too traumatised to speak about the March 4 incident.
Australia maintains diplomatic ties with Zimbabwe, despite being an open critic of President Robert Mugabe and having imposed some sanctions against his regime. — Sapa-AFP