| No history of drug use, drunk driving arrests or misdemeanors, either. |
The tiger would likely remain on view Saturday, zoo officials said, even as the woman underwent emergency surgery to save her lacerated limb.
At least 50 visitors were at the zoo’s big cat exhibit, called the Lion House, when the tiger, Tatiana, reached through her cage’s iron bars and grabbed the keeper Friday afternoon, said Robert Jenkins, the zoo’s director of animal care. “We’re still trying to figure out what happened and why it happened,” Jenkins said.
| Tiger reached through the cage and grabbed a two-legged lunch. Not so hard. |
The trainer has been an animal keeper at the zoo since 1997. Her main job is taking care of the zooÂ’s four lions and three tigers, Jenkins said.
The attack happened during a regular 2 p.m. public feeding, during which keepers typically deliver a meal of fortified horse meat through a small slot. “No matter how familiar you get with these animals, they’re still wild animals,” Jenkins said. “You have to have a healthy respect for them and be aware of what can happen.”
| Reeeeeeaaallllly? |