British woman mauled by 'tame' cheetahs at holiday safari park in Port Elizabeth

Violet D’Mello, 60, was wrestled to the ground by a captive big cat after she entered an enclosure at a wildlife park where tourists are invited to pet the a…nimals. The shaken housewife, from Aberdeen, was on holiday with her husband Archie, 64, when the terrifying incident happened. She was thrown to the ground as two cheetahs mauled at her head, stomach and legs. Mrs D’Mello, who was rushed to hospital after the incident, said: ‘It was terrifying and happened so quickly. ‘One minute I was in the enclosure with the cheetahs and the next it was biting at my head. ‘I was thrown to the ground and had to play dead while it mauled my legs and stomach.’ A guide at the game park in the Indian Ocean town of Port Elizabeth managed to pulled the second cat off Mrs D’Mello, but even as he did so, the first cheetah rejoined the fray, pining the Scot to the ground and biting and gouging her legs. It was only when a group of park visitors worked together to pull the two animals off her that Mrs D’Mello was able to make a dash for the petting pen’s gate. Amazingly, Mrs D’Mello’s husband Archibald had been outside the pen throughout the ordeal from where he captured this astonishing picture of the attack as it happened.