The 24-year-old woman from Millville, New Jersey is facing one count of defiant trespassing. Apart from the one charge she is also accused of violating two city ordinances that prohibit people from climbing fences inside the zoo, police said.
Clearly marked signs outside of the enclosure informed visitors not to climb the fences.
A woman was almost bitten by a tiger at a New Jersey zoo after she climbed over a barrier of the tiger enclosure and put her hand through a metal fence in what appeared to be an attempt to pet the wild animal. Bridgeton Police Department
According to police, the woman hopped a wooden fence and entered an adjacent area near the bear and tiger enclosures inside the zoo.
After the woman climbed the fence, she approached the cage that holds two 500-pound Bengal tigers and began “enticing” one of the tigers by putting her hand through the wire enclosure, police said.
Video shows tiger exhibiting 'agitated behavior', expert says
Bridgeton Police released a video of the woman interacting with the tiger. The footage shows the woman between the wooden barrier and wire cage, where she then puts her hand through a small gap, in what seemed to be an attempt to pet the animal.
This irked the animal who leapt towards the fence, causing the woman to quickly move her hand and jump back away from the cage. She then poses in front of the tiger, before climbing over the wooden fence again.
"That back-and-forth behavior that he did is like a pacing thing. You can also see his tail is going and that's an agitated behavior," animal keeper Avery Menear explained the behaviors of the tiger Mahesha to a New York local news station ABC7.
"As soon as she turned around, on the video you can see his paw go up, and after she reached out towards him, those are all predatory behaviors he was displaying,” Menear said.
Police said this was not the only time the 24-year-old woman did this that day, according to officials, there is another video showing her doing the same at the zoo’s bear enclosure. Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Galmari Sr. said videos and photos posted on the department’s social media sites yielded instant responses on the department’s BPD.TIPS tab which led to the suspect’s identification.
The woman will be scheduled to appear in court at a yet-to-be-determined date.
Where is Cohanzick Zoo?
Located about 50 miles from Atlantic City, Cohanzick Zoo, established in 1934 is New Jersey's oldest zoo, according to the zoo website, and offers free admission to visitors.
Cohanzick Zoo houses two Bengal tigers - Rishi and Mahesha - who were born at a zoo in North Carolina in September 2016 and were part of a litter of five, according to the zoo website. They arrived in Bridgeton in January 2017.
USA Today reporter Saman Shafiq contributed to this report.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
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