Authorities released a video Tuesday showing the moment a New Jersey woman nearly lost her hand to a tiger after allegedly climbing over the zoo fence, the New York Post reported.
An incident at Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton, New Jersey, prompted a police search for a woman who risked her safety by entering a restricted area of a tiger exhibit. The Bridgeton Police Department released a video showing the woman climbing over a fence to get dangerously close to a Siberian tiger, the New York Post reported. In the video, she is seen reaching her hand through the enclosure, narrowly avoiding a severe injury as the tiger lunges at her.
The curious Siberian tiger sniffs the woman, and then suddenly lungs for the woman’s hand and tries to bite it.
Luckily the woman jerked her hand out of the fence before the tiger could latch on.
The Bridgeton, NJ Police Department said, “𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞… pic.twitter.com/brX9LHGc82
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) August 21, 2024
The video ends with the woman retreating over the approximately 4-foot-high wooden fence she initially crossed. The police pointed out the dangers of her actions. “A female at the Cohanzick Zoo went over the wooden fence at the tiger enclosure and began enticing the tiger almost getting bit by putting her hand through the wire enclosure,” police said in a statement, New York Post reported. “Reminder to the public when visiting the zoo, that it is against City Ordinance to climb over any fence.” (RELATED: Children Horrified As Zoo’s Brown Bear Eats Entire Brood Of Ducklings ‘Like Chicken Nuggets’)
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Isaac, a Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), remains on a cage at the Joya Grande Zoo. (Photo by ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty Images)
Authorities requested help from the public in identifying the woman involved, offering a way to submit anonymous tips through their website, according to the New York Post. Cohanzick Zoo, established in 1934 and recognized as New Jersey’s first zoo, is home to around 45 species, including not only tigers but also leopards, bears, wallabies and mountain lions.