A 38 year old female employee,
Stacey Konwiser who had worked at the Palm Beach Zoo for over three
years and took care of 4 Malayan Tigers was mauled to death by one of
the Tigers she trained on Friday.
According to the Palm Beach Post, she was performing a routine procedure in the night house where the tigers sleep at about 1:45pm in preparation for her show which was scheduled at 2pm in the Zoo when she got attacked and mauled to death by the 13-year-old tiger.
The zoo was evacuated and shut down
and all the guests were safe. Officials say the zoo will be closed for
the next two days, according to spokeswoman Naki Carter.
She told the Sun Sentinel:
Malayan tigers are considered an endangered species. There are 250 and 340 of them around the world according to WWF.
According to the Palm Beach Post, she was performing a routine procedure in the night house where the tigers sleep at about 1:45pm in preparation for her show which was scheduled at 2pm in the Zoo when she got attacked and mauled to death by the 13-year-old tiger.
As soon as that happened, Animal
Control was contacted about the attack but Animal Control contacted the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who responded to the
call.
Zoo officials issued a code red
alert after the attack and the male Malayan tiger received
tranquilizers. Visitors were all moved to a safe place and all the 250
animals in the Zoo were accounted for.
Konwiser was taken to St Mary's
Medical Center where she later died after suffering a 'severe bite'
wound, a top zoo official told the newspaper.
Her husband of 10 years Jeremy is also a keeper at Palm Beach Zoo.
She told the Sun Sentinel:
'The tiger never escaped,'.'We have safety protocols for when incidents like this occur. We initiated those safety protocols.'West Palm Beach Police said the tiger was tranquilized. Authorities had to wait until the drugs took effect on the tiger before rescue crews could get in to help the victim.
Malayan tigers are considered an endangered species. There are 250 and 340 of them around the world according to WWF.
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