<p class="title">A jaguar clawed an Arizona woman who climbed over a barrier to take a picture at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, officials said, and the zoo assured animal lovers the big cat would not be put down.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Cellphone video of the incident showed at least one gash on the woman's left forearm as she writhed on the ground in pain on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I hear this young girl screaming: 'Help, help, help' ... and the jaguar has clasped its claws outside the cage around her hand and into her flesh," witness Adam Wilkerson told Fox 10 television.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Wilkerson's mother distracted the jaguar by pushing a water bottle through the cage, and Wilkerson said he pulled the woman away. Cellphone video later showed the animal chewing on a plastic water bottle.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The identity of the woman, in her 30s, was being withheld, said Shawn Gilleland, a spokesman for Rural Metro Fire, the agency that responded to the incident.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She was taken to a hospital and treated, then later returned to the zoo to apologize, Gilleland said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"She wanted to take a selfie or a picture of the animal, and she put her arm close enough to the cage that the cat was able to reach her," Gilleland said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The zoo's statement said the female jaguar never left its enclosure, and that the incident was being fully investigated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar," the zoo said on Twitter, responding to public concerns the animal might be put down.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The barrier surrounds the entire exhibit, creating a buffer of several feet (metres) from the enclosure, zoo spokeswoman Kristy Morcom told Fox 10</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There is climbing involved. It's not something that is easily done," Morcom said. "These are wild animals and those barriers are put there for a reason."</p>
<p class="title">A jaguar clawed an Arizona woman who climbed over a barrier to take a picture at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, officials said, and the zoo assured animal lovers the big cat would not be put down.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Cellphone video of the incident showed at least one gash on the woman's left forearm as she writhed on the ground in pain on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I hear this young girl screaming: 'Help, help, help' ... and the jaguar has clasped its claws outside the cage around her hand and into her flesh," witness Adam Wilkerson told Fox 10 television.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Wilkerson's mother distracted the jaguar by pushing a water bottle through the cage, and Wilkerson said he pulled the woman away. Cellphone video later showed the animal chewing on a plastic water bottle.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The identity of the woman, in her 30s, was being withheld, said Shawn Gilleland, a spokesman for Rural Metro Fire, the agency that responded to the incident.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She was taken to a hospital and treated, then later returned to the zoo to apologize, Gilleland said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"She wanted to take a selfie or a picture of the animal, and she put her arm close enough to the cage that the cat was able to reach her," Gilleland said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The zoo's statement said the female jaguar never left its enclosure, and that the incident was being fully investigated.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar," the zoo said on Twitter, responding to public concerns the animal might be put down.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The barrier surrounds the entire exhibit, creating a buffer of several feet (metres) from the enclosure, zoo spokeswoman Kristy Morcom told Fox 10</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There is climbing involved. It's not something that is easily done," Morcom said. "These are wild animals and those barriers are put there for a reason."</p>