DUNLAP, Calif. – A lion that killed a woman at a privately owned Central California zoo escaped from a feeding cage and attacked while she was cleaning his enclosure, authorities said Thursday.

Fresno County Coroner David Hadden said Dianna Hanson, a 24-year-old intern described by her father as a “fearless” lover of big cats, died instantly when the 5-year-old lion broke her neck.

Hanson had been working for two months as an intern at Cat Haven, a 100-acre exotic zoo east of Fresno. The large enclosure where Hanson was killed includes a smaller cage where animals can be confined for feeding or when the large space is being cleaned.