A woman in Nghe An province is missing her arm after it was bitten off by a tiger in a central Vietnam zoo late last month.

The accident took place on August 23 at Muong Thanh Zoo, where Tran Thi Yen, a female visitor, lost her arm to one of the resident white tigers.

“There was no tour guide so we followed a group of tourists to a no-trespassing area,” Yen said, recalling the incident to Tuoi Tre. “Like many of them, I was curious and held myself up against the metal bars to see the tigers.” But as she turned her head away, one of the tigers got her hand, then her arm and pulled her toward the cage.

Hearing her scream, bystanders tried to rescue Yen from the beast but its grip was too strong. Eventually, they used sticks to spear the tiger away but Yen's arm had already been severed.

“I went unconscious instantly and woke up without my arm,” she said.

Two weeks later, Yen seems to be recovering however, in addition to undergoing major surgery to amputate her bitten arm, the Thua Thien-Hue native is also dealing with drama from the zoo's management.

While Director Nguyen Van Hai insists that Muong Thanh Zoo had agreed upon a VND150 million compensation with Yen's family, one article on Zing suggests otherwise.

According to the report, Hai initially proposed to compensate Yen and her family only if she agreed to sign a contract stating that she was an employee of the zoo. When she refused, Hai offered a final VND150 million settlement and forced her to accept it or walk away with nothing.

According to Le Cao Binh, provincial head of the Nghe An ranger department, Muong Thanh's initial report on the incident named Yen as an employee and considered the attack an internal issue. As such, no police investigation took place.