Officials have said that a worker at a wildlife orphanage in Zimbabwe was killed by a lion that escaped from a cage mistakenly left open.

It has been reported that Friday Robyn Lotz, 26, was killed on Tuesday at the Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage, which takes in orphaned, abandoned or injured animals.

A lion named Lobi pulled Lotz to the ground and took her head in its mouth. The center's director shot the big cat but Lotz died of her injuries soon after arriving at a hospital in Bulawayo, officials at the refuge said in a statement on the refuge's Web site.

The attack happened as workers were cleaning the animals' cages and putting in clean grass.

Center Director Kevin Wilson said, "To my horror and dismay I saw Lobi crouched over Robyn, he had her in his mouth and was holding her at the back of her head." (With Inputs from Agencies)