A 24-year-old woman is charged with trespassing and faces two municipal misdemeanors. Police said prominent signs ask people not to climb over the fence next to the zoo’s tiger and bear enclosures.
Tiger almost bites woman’s hand at New Jersey Zoo
New Jersey authorities released footage of a woman putting her hand through the fence of a tiger enclosure at the Cohanzick Zoo.
A New Jersey woman has been charged with trespassing after police accused her of illegally climbing into a tiger’s enclosure at the zoo last week. The incident occurred on August 18 at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton, New Jersey, and was captured on video.
The 24-year-old woman from Millville, New Jersey, is charged with trespassing. In addition to that charge, she is also accused of violating two city ordinances that prohibit people from climbing over fences at the zoo, police said.
Clearly visible signs outside the enclosure advised visitors not to climb over the fences.
According to police, the woman jumped over a wooden fence and entered an adjacent area near the bear and tiger enclosures at the zoo.
After climbing over the fence, the woman approached the cage containing two 500-pound Bengal tigers and began to “lure” one of the tigers by putting her hand through the wire fence, police reported.
Tiger encounter at the zoo: Video shows woman at New Jersey zoo nearly bitten by tiger after sticking hand into enclosure
Video shows tiger with “excited behavior,” says expert
Bridgeton police released video showing the woman’s interaction with the tiger. The footage shows the woman between the wooden barrier and the wire cage, where she then puts her hand through a small gap in what appears to be an attempt to pet the animal.
This angered the animal and it jumped towards the fence. The woman then quickly moved her hand and jumped away from the cage. She then posed in front of the tiger and then climbed back over the wooden fence.
“This back-and-forth behavior that he was exhibiting is like pacing up and down. You can also see his tail wagging back and forth, and that is an excited behavior,” zookeeper Avery Menear explained the behavior of the tiger Mahesha to the New York local news channel ABC7.
“In the video, you can see him lifting his paw up as she turned around and grabbed him. These are all predatory behaviors that he was exhibiting,” Menear said.
According to police, this wasn’t the only time the 24-year-old woman did this that day. Officials say there is another video showing her doing this in the zoo’s bear enclosure. Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Galmari Sr. said videos and photos posted on the department’s social media pages prompted immediate responses on the department’s BPD.TIPS tab that led to the suspects being identified.
The woman’s court appearance is scheduled to take place at a date yet to be determined.
Where is the Cohanzick Zoo?
Located about 50 miles from Atlantic City, the Cohanzick Zoo was founded in 1934 and is New Jersey’s oldest zoo, according to the zoo’s website. Admission is free for visitors.
The Cohanzick Zoo is home to two Bengal tigers – Rishi and Mahesha – who were born in September 2016 at a zoo in North Carolina and were part of a litter of five tigers, the zoo’s website says. 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 [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
