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The United States was sadly united with Zimbabwe this week, during a pair of unusual lion maulings. They occurred during vastly different circumstances, however.

In Zimbabwe, a woman identified as Sharai Mawera was fatally mauled to death while having sex with her boyfriend. The man escaped the scene.

According to the Herald Online, the death occurred when the man, identified only as Musinje, met his girlfriend for a tryst in a bushy area in the Mahombekombe suburb by the resort town of Kariba. The couple was attacked and, though the man managed to escape, his paramour was not so fortunate.

After fleeing the scene naked, motorists ignored the man. As My Zimbabwe reports, many thought that the man was mentally challenged because of his lack of attire. Finally, he managed to alert the proper authorities who set out to find the lion.

With the assistance of officials from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, the police found the woman's body at the scene. While searching for her, they also found a man's arm. The authorities believe that the man died the previous night, killed by the lions as well.

The police believe that, because the lions killed a man the night before this incident, they did not completely eat the woman. However, the attack has led the neighborhood to live in fear, as lions are allowed to freely roam the area.

In Central California, the Associated Press reports that a volunteer intern was fatally mauled to death by a lion in the Cat Haven sanctuary. The 26-year-old volunteer intern was attacked when she walked into the male lion's enclosure. They also are attempting to determine why she was in the enclosure at all, especially since there was only one other worker on the premises at the time.

Researchers are investigating why the lion would have attacked the young woman. The four-year-old lion has stayed at the sanctuary since it was a cub.

The private sanctuary has been open since 1993. On all inspections performed by the government, the sanctuary has been found to be in good working order, though investigators note that inspections could not prevent the tragedy from occurring.