Colombino says the tiger was tranquilized.
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In 2007, a Siberian Tiger named Tatiana escaped her open air enclosure in the San Francisco Zoo and attacked three guests, one 17-year-old boy was killed. Konwiser’s husband, Jeremy, is also a keeper at Palm Beach Zoo.
The zoo was closed after Konwiser was bitten and will remain shuttered Saturday, officials said.
The incident happened out of the public’s view, in an area where the animals sleep and eat, the newspaper reported, citing zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter. Konwiser’s husband Jeremy (right) is also a trainer at the zoo.
“It’s time to mourn and push forward with what Stacey would want”, Carter said.
It was first thought that the tiger had gotten loose on the zoo grounds, which prompted a swift evacuation. After the attack, the tiger was quickly subdued by tranquilizer, allowing officials to reach Konwiser.
Speaking at a press conference, Carter would not specify what kind of injuries Konwiser sustained, but he stressed that no safety parameters were breached.
“Stacey was an expert”, Carter told reporters. OMG, this is just too sad for words, she sounds like she adored her tigers so much. “They spoke to each other in a language that only they could understand”. Turns out We Bought A Zoo is where the movie star might have been in real trouble.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the tiger attack.
Since 1990, according to the group, at least 24 deaths – and 265 injuries – were caused by “captive big cats” in the United States.
Carter declined to comment on the investigation, but said she wanted to “dispel misinformation” that the tiger had been mistreated.
The tiger was a Malayan Tiger, which is critically endangered.
A rare and endangered breed, the Malayan tigers’s numbers are exceedingly small. The cost to farmers can be high so farmers retaliate by killing the tigers.
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In January, a keeper was severely injured at an Australian zoo founded by the late wildlife conservationist Steve Irwin. But Konwiser died tragically doing what she loved when a tiger at the zoo attacked and killed her on Friday night. The zoo has four such tigers, according to its website. He read a statement to other zoo staff this morning.
