enclosure or somehow got loose or something or didn t go all the way into the side enclosure when she went in, because i can t imagine her going in there when the lion was in there, when the rules were that you can t do that. and you seem so you seem so calm. and i know that you re in shock, but do you feel any anger or frustration at cat haven, that they could have let this happen? that this possibly could have been their fault? oh, not at all. not in the least. and dianna would back me up on that 100%. she would be defending them and she would be defending that lion, cous cous. she would have been very distraught that the lion was shot and killed. it was a very safe, well-run place. she liked the way it was set up, because of the way the cages were set up, they really replicated the animal s natural habitat as much as possible. the cages were much bigger than any zoo facility would ever have. she was just really impressed
and what we still don t know is what that 24-year-old girl was doing inside the enclosure. how are you doing? how is everybody? how do you think we re doing? it s awful. reporter: animal sanctuary owner dale anderson kept the gates at kat haven locked thursday, a day after his 24-year-old intern was mauled to death by a lion. our whole staff is it s just it s devastating. and i m so sorry. reporter: dianna hanson had been working here for six months. her smile in these photographs seems to show what her father says was an absolute love for the job. she just loved this was her dream come true, working with big cats all day long. nothing but big cats. reporter: one of those cats was cous cous, a 350-pound,
bear this. because, this was her dream. she was living her dream. she was the happiest she ever was. and that makes it possible to bear this. dianna and by the way, i noticed the media has been reporting that she was mauled to death by a lion. i just got word from the coroner down there doing the autopsy today and the co-workers and the owner, i talked to them today, she said, there was no mauling, her body was not disfigured at all. most likely, the cause of death was suffocation, with the lion playing too hard, sitting on top of her, and there was no blood present and there was no evidence of tearing or rips. if any injuries occurred, probably right after suffocation. this is new news that they re just reporting now, kind of a surprise to them, but there was no mauling, no rips or gashes or anything like that. the lady, the coroner told me down there that she was really surprised. she thought she would get an awful case, and instead, she was surprised how well the body looked gre
i can t think of any reason why she would do that. reporter: those that knew cous cous said he had no history of aggression. he eats about 8 pounds of food a day. reporter: he d been featured on different television shows. this is cous cous when he was a cub being held by jeff corwin on the ellen degeneres show . we can t forget how powerful these animals are, and it does strike me as potentially dangerous for someone to be alone with a cat like this. and you can see a tragic outcome when one potentially loses sight on the absolute predatory ability of these incredible cats. and joining me now is dianna hanson s father, paul hanson. and paul, thank you, sir, for taking the time. i m so sorry for what has happened and i can t even imagine the shock that you feel. it s only been a day since you got the news about your daughter. do you believe that it s happened yet?
sanctuary where she died. she was working toward a certification that would have classified her for her dream job working at a zoo one day. her family said she loved animals, especially big cats. you re going to hear from them in a moment. this is the animal that attacked her. it was an african male lion named cous cous. he was shot, killed yesterday. he lived at the sanctuary his entire life since he was a cub. when he was 3 months old, he was on the ellen degeneres show. her father said he was one of dianna s favorite cats at the sanctuary. an investigation is now under way. ted rowlands joins me. i understand you have new information about how she died, ted? reporter: yeah, anderson, and why she was in that enclosure. we re getting this from dr. david hadden, the coroner here. he said according to investigators, the victim here, dianna hanson, was in the main enclosure. and it s separated, all of these enclosures are separated into large enclosures and smaller