A member of a third-party cleaning service that was contracted by the Naples Zoo was seriously injured after getting too close to a tiger Wednesday night, resulting in the death of the tiger.The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said it was called at 6:26 p.m., after the zoo was closed to the public.The member of the cleaning service was responsible for cleaning restrooms and the gift shop, not the animal enclosure, deputies said. They believe the man in his 20s was either petting or feeding the animal, neither of which are allowed.Officials said the Malaysian tiger grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it further into the enclosure after the man had gone through the initial barrier.The deputy who first responded kicked the enclosure and tried to get the tiger to release the man’s arm before the deputy was forced to shoot the animal, the sheriff’s office said. The tiger then ran to the back of the enclosure and was sedated.The man was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, deputies said.The Malaysian tiger, which is a critically endangered species, was killed during the shooting, a spokesperson for the zoo said to ABC.The tiger’s name was Eko and came to the zoo from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in Dec. 2019 before being introduced in Feb. 2020.”Eko is a great ambassador for his species. When guests see him, we hope they fall in love and want to learn how they can do their part to save his cousins in the wild,” the zoo says on its website.The zoo is closed Thursday and scheduled to reopen Friday.The zoo said it will be doing a fund in Eko’s honor and released a statement on its website:”Naples Zoo will be closed today, December 30th. The decision to close today was made to allow officials to complete their investigation late into the evening. This decision was also made to allow the Zoo to begin its own internal investigation and to allow our staff to process what has occurred and to begin the painful healing process. A grief counselor will be available for staff beginning today. We will reopen at 9 a.m. tomorrow and we thank our community for their understanding and for the messages and words of encouragement and support that have been flowing into us.”2021 moments: A look at the top viral animal videos of the year
A member of a third-party cleaning service that was contracted by the Naples Zoo was seriously injured after getting too close to a tiger Wednesday night, resulting in the death of the tiger.
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The Collier County Sheriff’s Office said it was called at 6:26 p.m., after the zoo was closed to the public.
The member of the cleaning service was responsible for cleaning restrooms and the gift shop, not the animal enclosure, deputies said. They believe the man in his 20s was either petting or feeding the animal, neither of which are allowed.
Officials said the Malaysian tiger grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it further into the enclosure after the man had gone through the initial barrier.
The deputy who first responded kicked the enclosure and tried to get the tiger to release the man’s arm before the deputy was forced to shoot the animal, the sheriff’s office said. The tiger then ran to the back of the enclosure and was sedated.
The man was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, deputies said.
The Malaysian tiger, which is a critically endangered species, was killed during the shooting, a spokesperson for the zoo said to ABC.
The tiger’s name was Eko and came to the zoo from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in Dec. 2019 before being introduced in Feb. 2020.
“Eko is a great ambassador for his species. When guests see him, we hope they fall in love and want to learn how they can do their part to save his cousins in the wild,” the zoo says on its website.
The zoo is closed Thursday and scheduled to reopen Friday.
The zoo said it will be doing a fund in Eko’s honor and released a statement on its website:
“Naples Zoo will be closed today, December 30th. The decision to close today was made to allow officials to complete their investigation late into the evening. This decision was also made to allow the Zoo to begin its own internal investigation and to allow our staff to process what has occurred and to begin the painful healing process. A grief counselor will be available for staff beginning today. We will reopen at 9 a.m. tomorrow and we thank our community for their understanding and for the messages and words of encouragement and support that have been flowing into us.“
2021 moments: A look at the top viral animal videos of the year
