A female volunteer was fatally attacked by a lion on Wednesday at a private wild animal park in California.

Dianna Hanson, a 24-year-old volunteer intern, was killed when a 550-pound lion escaped from its cage at the Project Survival Cat Haven in Dunlap.

Fresno County Coroner David Hadden told Fox News that Hanson was killed when the lion pounced on her and broke her neck with a swipe of its paw.

Investigators continue to look into the incident as the lion escaped from its cage and attacked Hanson while she was in a larger play area designed to let the wild animals roam around.

Hanson was reportedly on the phone with a co-worker at the time of the attack. The phone call ended abruptly which alerted the co-worker that something was potentially wrong.

Police responded to a distress call and arrived to find that the woman was severely injured and still lying inside the enclosure with the lion near her.

Authorities had to fatally shoot the 4-year-old lion named Cous Cous in order to provide medical attention to Hansen. The animal had been raised at the Cat Haven park since it was 8 months old.

Tony Spada, a lieutenant with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told KMPH that this is a rare incident but not unexpected for people who work that closely to big cats.

"Every year we have an annual permitting agreement," Spad said about the Cat Haven regulations that are similar to those of zoos under state law. "We come in. We inspect it with our wildlife officers. And if they do not pass the inspection, they do not operate at this time. They have an active permit that was okay 'd by our department."

The Cat Haven website states that the project "promotes the conservation and preservation of wild cats in their native habitat by educating visitors and publicizing the work done by Project Survival Cat Conservation Group."

The 100-acre park is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills about 45 miles east of Fresno.