Video from the Cohanzick Zoo in New Jersey shows a woman antagonising a tiger and nearly getting bitten through a wire fence, police say.
Police in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, are now looking to identify the woman seen in the video and photos from the zoo.
The police department posted the images on Facebook yesterday (Tuesday local time).
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“I was horrified honestly,” John Medica, Director of Recreation and Public Affairs for the City of Bridgeton, said.
The tigers are separated from zoo visitors by a tall wire fence.
A couple of metres away from the wire, there’s also a shorter wooden fence that butts up along the walking paths.
The video shows a woman who is past the wooden fence – right up against the wire enclosure, sticking her hand through one of the holes in the fence.
A tiger then paces back and forth and puts both paws on the wire as the woman walks away and hops back onto the walking path.
“Reminder to the public when visiting the zoo that it is against City Ordinance to climb over any fence,” Bridgeton police said.
Medica added, “It was just very careless, a very careless action and I hope the individual recognises how lucky they were to still have all of their limbs.”
Zoo officials add the woman seen in the video also tried to do the same thing in the nearby bear exhibit.
Medica said she was stopped by other visitors before she could get over that safety fence.
“This is a unique zoo where you get to go closer than any other zoo that you can get to. But you can’t take liberties with that,” animal keeper Avery Menear said.
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Menear said she is frustrated, to say the least, over what happened.
“I hurt for these guys (the tigers) because they get really frustrated, as well when this happens. They could seriously hurt someone which again reflects badly on them,” Menear said.
Mahesha and Rishi are the tiger brothers at the zoo.
They have called the zoo home since 2016.
When asked if there are any changes to how the zoo operates after what happened, zoo officials responded: “I don’t want to make any rash decisions in the moment. We’re going to evaluate everything. We already were,” Medica said.
With visitors looking on Wednesday afternoon local time, Menear gave Mahesha a little treat.
Her reminder: while they may look cute, these are still wild animals, and it’s imperative to respect their space.
The Bridgeton police chief did share that investigators are “following up” on several tips.
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