A leopard killed a zookeeper on Thursday morning at the Jiufeng Mountain Zoo in Nanping, a city in Fujian province.

Yuan Xidi, 55, worked as the crocodile keeper at the zoo and was asked on Thursday to be a substitute for the leopard keeper, who was absent that day.

The leopard bit Yuan on the neck at about 8:40 am, shortly after he had entered its cage.

The city’s public utilities bureau said the keeper died at the scene of the attack.

Zoo security workers subdued the leopard with the use of an anesthetic gun and then closed the zoo.

The cause of the attack is under investigation, the bureau said.