Holiday maker’s terror at zoo vulture attack In Spain

The 56-year-old from Ipswich told yesterday of how she feared she was going to be eaten alive when the metre-long griffon vulture pinned her to the ground while she was watching a birds of prey show on the island.

She had no doubt taken precautions against sunburn and been warned about timeshare touts. But nothing could have prepared Mary Corcoran for the attack by a vulture on her Tenerife holiday.

The 56-year-old from Ipswich told yesterday of how she feared she was going to be eaten alive when the metre-long griffon vulture pinned her to the ground while she was watching a birds of prey show on the island.

She was taken to hospital after the vulture swooped down and attacked her and her friend Teresa Largent at Tenerife's Jungle Park zoo.

The vulture, which has a wingspan of 2.5 metres (8ft), was eventually punched to the ground by its keeper. The attack was unusual because vultures normally only feast on dead animals.

The attack happened on Sunday as the women's week-long Holiday was coming to an end. They were watching the show in the park's arena when one vulture flew from its perch and down to where the women were sitting.

"We had been told not to move, so we sat totally still, but it pecked Teresa and then nicked her programme," said Corcoran, who is retired, yesterday from her home in Kesgrave, Suffolk. "Then the bird went for me, and perched on my shoulder, and before I knew it, I was under it."

Griffon vultures weigh between six and 13kg (1-2st); the weight of the bird pinned Corcoran down and she began to feel a burning sensation down her back and arm as its claws dug into her skin.

"The keeper came over and got the bird away but as he was taking me out of the arena it flew back towards me and the keeper had to thump it really hard to the ground," she said. "That is when the real fear and panic set it as I thought it was coming back to eat me. I was freaking out. I thought, 'I'm not a dead carcass!'"

She was then taken to hospital where she received antibiotics and a tetanus jab. After her wounds were dressed, she was sent back to her hotel in a wheelchair. "I was shaking and shaking and shaking," she said. "I couldn't speak about it for a few days afterwards. Every time someone asked me what happened I started crying. I've never known any shock like it."

She said she was hoping to claim compensation from the zoo for what she described as its "negligence".

A spokeswoman for Jungle Park said: "The animals are free so we cannot control what they will do, because they are animals. I have only heard of this thing happening maybe twice in 15 years. The keepers are working with them every day and have insurance for that."

Grahame Madge, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said the vultures "look like barn doors coming towards you, so it's no wonder [the women] were frightened. But they are not usually at all dangerous for humans. They are nature's waste disposal units - usually they are just carrion feeders."

The Jungle Park, in Las Aguilas, south Tenerife Spain, has two birds of prey shows a day, giving visitors the chance to see falcons, vultures and eagles in free flight.



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