Tragedy hits Siberia's most famous zoo as worker is killed by a black jaguar

'The mother jaguar attacked the woman and broke her spine; the woman died instantly,' said Rostislav Shilo, the zoo director.

'She had worked with us for almost two years,' he added, not naming the woman. 

It appears a dividing door in the enclose was not locked as rules specify before the cleaning takes place. The tragedy was on Tuesday and the Tropical World pavilion was immediately closed for visitors. 

'We have had an investigator working at the zoo and checking the cage where the tragedy struck.

'The most likely version of what happened is that the woman has violated health and safety rules and started to work before checking that the door between first and second sections was shut,' said Marina Kinzhalova from the Novosibirsk Department of the Russian Investigative Committee.

Prominent Russian tamer Mstislav Zapashniy, currently in Novosibirsk, said: 'Predators are born to attack - even if they look calm and not aggressive it is only an illusion. Predators' attacks are always linked to the health and safety rules violations. There is no point in punishing the animal since it is not its fault. It was created to hunt, to attack'.

Novosibirsk Zoo is one of the best in Russia attracting around 700,000 visitors a year. The tragedy is believed to be the first such incident in the zoo's history.