TOPEKA – During an incident with a Sumatran tiger on Saturday, a zookeeper at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center sustained injuries and continues her recovery at a local Topeka hospital.
On Tuesday, the zoo identified the injured zookeeper as 40-year-old Kristyn Hayden-Ortega. She began working with the Topeka Zoo in July 2001.
According to a media release from the zoo, Kristyn is a passionate and dedicated individual in this field. She has taught and mentored many other zookeepers, educators, interns, and volunteers into becoming ambassadors for animals of all species. She has a great sense of humor and is a great problem solver.
She began her employment at the zoo in the zoo’s education department where she helped implement a state wide Safari Edventure Day program. She also made several trips to Paraguay to work with maned wolves and train zoo keepers in South America. After transferring to the zoo’s Animal Care Department in 2009, she developed a passion for working with a number of different animals including African painted dogs and Sumatran tigers. She is the zoo’s Institutional Representative to and sits on the steering committee of the African Painted Dog Species Survival Plan Steering Committee. She recently presented at a conference in Texas on training techniques to enhance reproduction in Sumatran tigers. She has traveled to Thailand to work with Asian elephants. She was involved with the original release of black-footed ferrets into the Kansas landscape. She is the current president of the Topeka Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers.
Kristyn is a highly valued member of the Topeka Zoo team. It is still uncertain when she will leave the hospital but a full recovery is expected.
Kristyn’s family would like to thank everyone who has sent prayers and well-wishes. At the same time,Kristyn’s family has experienced a traumatic event and needs time to process that. They have asked for privacy and hope the media and public can respect that.
