Hamilton Zoo, which is run by the City Council, shut down after Kudeweh’s death and will reopen Thursday.
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Senior Sergeant Juliet Burgess of Hamilton Police said details are still inconclusive as to how the incident happened.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand A veteran New Zealand zookeeper was attacked and killed by a Sumatran tiger Sunday inside the animal’s enclosure.
Hamilton Zoo will reopen this morning after a tiger killed curator Samantha Kudeweh, but it will be far from business as usual.
The victim died at the scene as a result of her injuries, Senior Sgt.
“We’re aware there is a lot of interest and speculation around how we manage Oz now, and I want to assure the public and zoo supporters that he will not be put down”, Vervoort said in the statement.
As a young girl, Samantha told her parents that she wanted to work in a zoo when she becomes an adult. The incident took place at the North Island Hamilton Zoo, and though in-depth details have not been revealed, the zoo has said that the tiger had not been outside of its enclosure at the time of the attack. WorkSafe New Zealand, the country’s health and safety authority, is investigating alongside police, it said in a separate e-mailed statement.
However, the “tiger talk” and face-to-face animal encounters have been suspended indefinitely.
The visitor added that the staff had approached him and asked that he leave and that everyone would be refunded their money. The zoo won’t comment on what went wrong until an investigation is completed, he said. In a news release about the euthanasia decision, Lance Vervoort, Hamilton city council’s general manager community, said zoo officials believe the tiger’s attack was “in line with his natural instincts”. “He’s the daddy of our two cubs, and he’s very important to the continued breeding program to preserve this uncommon species”. “That part never gets any easier”.
Sumatran tigers, a species native to Indonesia, are regarded as critically endangered.
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Three years after in Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Auckland, a woman was also killed by a disturbed elephant, wrote CNN.
