Police in Bridgeton, New Jersey, are reportedly trying to identify a young woman who nearly lost her hand after she jumped the Cohanzick Zoo’s security fence to pet a tiger in its enclosure… before trying her luck again near the bear cage.
“A zoo visitor climbed over the wooden fence of the tiger enclosure and began to lure the tiger in, which nearly bit her when she reached through the wire enclosure. We are asking if anyone recognizes the woman in the video,” the Bridgeton Police Department posted on Facebook Tuesday, according to NBC News.
In footage initially shared by the police force, the young woman can be seen attempting to pet the tiger, named Mahesha, through a wire fence as the beast allegedly opened its mouth and jumped on her hand in its cage.
After removing his hand in extremisshe can be seen stopping for a moment, presumably to take a break near the enclosure, before jumping the fence to continue her visit.
Although the visitor narrowly avoided disaster, she later allegedly repeated her reckless action by attempting to approach the bear enclosure, zoo officials told CBS News.
Fortunately, this time, other visitors to the Cohanzick Zoo apparently stopped her from continuing her act.
“It was just a very reckless act, and I hope she recognizes how lucky she was to still have all of her limbs. It’s a unique zoo where you can get closer than (in) any other zoo (…), but you can’t take (such) liberties,” the animal keeper, Avery Menear, told the American media.
On Monday, the police post was no longer on social media, but the police force did not specify whether or not it had managed to catch the young woman after its appeal to the public.
