“It’s been a tough few months,” said Virginia Black, Alex’s aunt. “Alex was cerebral. She was very smart.”
Virginia said the center told her family details about what happened. “Apparently, Alex was working outside of the two enclosures in the park area and was preparing a deer to feed the lion.”
She said when the lion got out of his pen, he went straight for Alex. “Supposedly there was a witness who saw Alex calmly facing the lion, trying to keep his attention on her by not running away and screaming. She may have saved other people’s lives.”
Virginia said, from her understanding, when the lion escaped his enclosure he was free in the public portion of the center, where he could have encountered anyone who was out here that day. “And there were people, there were members of the public there that morning,” she added.
Although the black family has some answers, they have questions too. “We are still waiting for some more information,” Virginia said.
The medical examiner’s report says the lion’s pen was not properly closed. That aside, Virginia believes center staff was not prepared to handle the emergency.
She has concerns about how a tranquilizer gun was used. “I am told by a witness that the gentleman who was using it was reading the instructions,” Virginia explained. “That seems to indicate that they didn’t practice using it.”
Virginia wants to know if policies and procedures at the center have changed. She also wants the state to pass laws to more closely regulate private centers, like Conservators Center.
“We want you to take what happened to Alex, seriously, and take steps. “Even if they’re difficult, to make sure this doesn’t happen to another family,” Virginia said.
Law enforcement shot and killed the lion after attempts to tranquilize it failed.
Virginia did say the family does not blame the center for Alex’s death.
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