Two Year Old Toddler Beats Bengal Tiger
Posted on 5 September 2010 by LynThomas in Society
Toddler Faces Bengal Tiger
Diana Barratt was in for a shocking surprise when she turned a corner to find her two-year-old daughter, Dianita, facing down a 500-pound Bengal tiger that had escaped its enclosure, at the Miami, Florida exotic animal park, Jungle Island.
“She started walking down the trail ahead of me, and I decided just to leave the stroller and my purse behind and go after her,” Diana said. “I rounded the corner and she’s standing there staring at this tiger. It’s very scary to have your 2-year-old daughter in such close proximity to a tiger.”
A mischievous white-handed gibbon had managed to escape its own enclosure, as a result of both mechanical and human error. The gibbon made its way over to the tiger exhibit. After being stirred into an excited frenzy, by the gibbon, the massive tiger managed to leap over the fence surrounding its enclosure.
Fortunately, no one was hurt, as Barratt calmly picked her daughter up and carried her to safety. Park employees escorted them and other park visitors to a secure building.
“It’s a freak incident,” Serrate, from Jungle Island, said. “It’s an isolated incident it’s not something we’ve ever had happen in the park.”
Park employees were quick to reassure the general public. “It’s important to note that all of our animals here are raised by humans so they’re used to human interaction, so at no point did the tiger ever think that the human was a threat or was going to be an issue.”
Park officials added that they have protocols in place for situations such as this, and have had several drills for their trained staff in order to be best prepared. They said that guests’ safety is their number one priority.
Baratt says it will be long while before she takes her daughter to visit another tiger, particularly if the animals are not more secure.
In 2007 three people were mauled and one left dead, when four tigers escaped at a San Francisco Zoo. This was just after the zoo had upgraded security at the tiger enclosure.
In 2008 a man was mauled to death by two brown bears in a Ukranian zoo, when the apparently drunk man fell into the bears’ enclosure after losing his balance while trying to have his photo taken near the bears.
The previous year, at the same zoo, a man escaped injury when he fell into a cage with tigers.
