Boy recovering from leopard attack

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WICHITA, Kan., May 7 (UPI) -- A first-grade boy suffered cuts to his head and neck in a leopard attack at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kan., zoo officials said.

The child was on a school outing at the zoo Friday when he climbed a rail separating the leopards from the public, the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle reported. A 77-pound leopard named Nia reached through the bars and grabbed the boy by the head.

Naomi Robinson was at the zoo with her children when the incident occurred.

"He wanted to get a closer look," Robinson told the newspaper.

Several people came to the boy's aid and a man kicked the leopard in the head, forcing it to release the child.

They boy was taken to Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis in Wichita, where he was reported in fair condition with lacerations on his head and neck.

Assistant zoo director Jim Marlett said the Amur leopard would not suffer any consequences as a result of the attack.

"It was a leopard being a leopard," Marlett said.