Woman Apologizes After Being Attacked By A Jaguar At Arizona Zoo

A woman attacked on Saturday at a zoo in Arizona has since apologized for the incident. Witnesses say they saw the individual trying to take a selfie with a jaguar by crossing a barrier that was there to protect customers from the animals.

"The claws that were retracted were definitely outside of the cage and grasped around her hand, and she holding her other arm, with her arm attached to the paw just screaming, screaming, screaming, to get out," eyewitness Adam Wilkerson told CBS 5 of the incident that occurred at Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park.

Kristy Morcum, a spokeswoman with the zoo, told CNN affiliates that the woman has since returned and admitted her role in what took place and apologized since she "feels horrible about the bad publicity the zoo is getting regarding the incident."

The jaguar retreated after a fellow witness pushed her water bottle through the fence in order to get the jaguar to release its grip. The woman, described as being in her mid-30s, had to go to the hospital to get stitches as the animal caused a gash on her arm.

After the incident, the zoo tweeted, "The visitor sustained non-life threatening injuries to their arm from one of our female jaguars. At the request of the family, paramedics were called. At no time was the animal out of its enclosure ... Please understand why barriers are put in place. Sending prayers to the family tonight.”

There are no plans to euthanize the jaguar, as the zoo also wrote, “We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar. She’s a wild animal and there were proper barriers in place to keep our guests safe- not a wild animals fault when barriers are crossed. Still sending prayers to her and her family."