Animal keeper bitten by wolves at NC wildlife center says she’s ‘doing just fine’
An animal keeper bitten by wolves at a North Carolina wildlife center last weekend is “doing just fine” and looking forward to working with the animals again.
Hayley Quay was injured while “performing routine activities” with two juvenile wolves at the Animal Park at the Conservators Center, according to a statement from the center.
“I have been working closely with wolves for my entire professional career and know that sometimes things like this happen even when everything is done perfectly,” Quay said in a separate statement posted Monday night on the center’s Facebook page.
“I am looking forward to a full and speedy recovery so that I can get back to doing what I have spent years studying and training to do — caring for Rayne and Sitka and all of the other animals at the Animal Park,” her statement continued.
Animal Park, previously just the Conservators Center, is the same center where an intern was killed by a lion in late 2018.
Quay was bitten on her upper arms and right leg. She was taken to UNC Hospitals Hillsborough Campus with non life-threatening injuries, said Greg Ingram, spokesperson for the Caswell County sheriff’s office.
The wolves did not escape their enclosure, he said.
No members of the public were in danger, according to the center’s statement.
“The center continues to have as its top priority the safety of its public guests, volunteers and employees, and the center is confident that it provides a safe environment for all who visit and work at the center,” according to its statement.
The center did not return a phone call from The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun for this story.
Over 70 animals including gray wolves, dingos, coyotes, tigers and lions live at the center, which straddles the Alamance-Caswell county line. On Saturday the center held a “St. Patty’s Day at the Animal Park” event that included themed tours, fair games and food.
The wolves have been quarantined for 10 days and Caswell County Animal Control was called to the center.
Fatal lion attack
Alex Black, who had just graduated college, had just begun an internship at the center when she was fatally attacked by a lion while trying to clean its cage in late 2018.
The N.C. Department of Labor issued three citations to the center in 2019 totaling $3,000 in fines.
The fines were not directly related to Black’s death but to “hazards” that employees were exposed to, The News & Observer previously reported.
The Conservators Center had zero non-compliant items in its most recent inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The September 2020 report showed there were four wolves at the center.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 3:46 PM.
