Carter said Konwiser’s husband is also a Palm Beach zookeeper, but would not say whether he was at the zoo Friday afternoon.
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“Our focus is to mourn together as a family and to push forward with the work that Stacey dedicated her life to”. Colleagues describe the 38-year-old as a wife, a daughter and a sister to those with whom she worked.
A security guard stands at the entrance to the Palm Beach Zoo on Saturday April 16, 2016. Lead keeper Stacey Konwiser, known as the “tiger whisperer”, suffered a “severe bite” inside the Malayan tigers’ habitat.
Funeral services are being organized, officials said. Carter said the woman was very knowledgeable about the tigers and loved them dearly. The tiger was tranquilized and has since recovered. We are a conservation society.
“We are grieving at this time”, Carter said. Konwiser was preparing for the 2 p.m. “Tiger Talk” show, in which visitors get to know the animals.
Carter declined to answer whether Knowiser was alone with the tiger.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Immediately after the incident Friday, a Code Red was issued and “guests, who were never in any danger, were ushered out of the Zoo in an orderly fashion and the Zoo went into lockdown”, the zoo said in a statement Friday.
CNN notes that contrary to some early reports that surfaced on social media, the tiger was not loose.
Konwiser was flown by Trauma Hawk helicopter from the zoo to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where she arrived in critical condition.
Zoo officials said Konwiser was an expert. “She loved big cats”, she said.
Malayan tigers are considered to be an endangered species, as only 250 known animals remain in the world.
“Stacey loved big cats”. Zookeepers usually avoid ever coming into close contact with risky predators like tigers, and so it’s possible some kind of equipment failure or oversight may have led to the fatal encounter. “Stacey spoke a language it seemed and they spoke a language with her, that was a dialogue that only they understood”. “We were in the process of crafting another position to retain her”. A rare white tiger in a private zoo in El Salvador escaped, killed its keeper and was recaptured hours later.
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It is the first time an animal has killed someone in the Florida zoo’s 60 year history. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the case.
