Cameras taken in lion park probe

Visitors to the park are told to keep their windows closed but it appears the car the woman was in had them open. Photo / AP

The camera of an American woman mauled to death by a lion in South Africa has been taken by police investigating what prompted the big cat to pounce.

The identity of victim Katherine Chappell, 22, was confirmed to ABC News yesterday by her sister.

Ms Chappell suffered a fatal bite from the lioness as she photographed it with her window open from 1m away.

A big cat expert said the lion would have felt threatened by the proximity of the tourists, who were said to have been driving through the 8ha enclosure with their windows down, despite several warnings not to.

The Lion Park, one of South Africa's most popular tourist attractions, 40 minutes outside Johannesburg, remained open yesterday but the enclosure where the woman was killed was cordoned off.

Spokesman Scott Simpson said the lion would not be put down. He said the guide who accompanied the woman was in hospital and that park officials would visit him to learn more about what happened. The man, who worked independently of the Lion Park, is believed to have serious injuries to his arms from trying to push the animal off.

"They didn't allow us in to see him this morning but our understanding is that his injuries are not life-threatening," Mr Simpson said.

He said police were planning to interview several witnesses to the attack, including two families who photographed the incident and handed over their cameras.

"There were two vehicles in the enclosure and they both reported that the windows were fully down, passenger and driver's side," he said.

"Apparently they parked a few metres away from the pride and the lioness started walking towards the vehicle and they took pictures. The lion then stopped a metre away and sat and watched them and then quite unexpectedly lunged at the vehicle."

He rejected suggestions the lions might have been hungry.

"Our lions get fed very often, they certainly never go hungry," he said. "We have almost 200,000 visitors each year and it was the first incident we've had a fatality."

Professor Graham Kerley, of the Centre for African Conservation Ecology in Port Elizabeth, said the lion might have attacked simply because it was irritated. "A metre is well within personal space for lions."