Back in 2012 there was a similar incident at Kolmården in Sweden, a staff member entered a wolf enclosure alone and was then killed by the pack. 5-7 years before that I took part in a visit to the wolf enclosure and got to meet the wolfs.

It was an interesting experience, they were very friendly, loved the attention, but completely silent, they behaved a lot like dogs but also different. The leader of the pack made sure that the ranks of the wolves in the pack was enforced, again without noise. If a low ranking wolf got too much attention it was swiftly nuged away, but if it was treated too badly by the other wolves the leader but a stop to it before it got too bad.

I don't remember a smell, I know foxes can smell strongly, but I don't remember a smell from the wolves.

They had no ticks or anything like that, despite living in a large wooded open air enclosure with lots of nature, the staff claimed that they just didn't get those.

The wolves were very curious and friendly, lots of sniffing and then licking, but nothing more.

We were in a group of ten guests, and the pack was about 5-6 wolves.

When we left the enclosure the pack all lined up by the fence and watched us walk away.

Since 2012 these visits have obviously been cancelled, I am glad they are, it was never really safe.

I am very glad that I got the experience, but I am sad that it took the death of a staff member to realize that under the polished surface, the danger was still very real.

I really hope for the best of the victims, and that the park understands that this practice can't continue.

Has Damien just been going around to zoos in Europe?