A TIGER has killed a zoo keeper in a horror attack after the staff member entered the cage and was bitten on the head by the beast.
The zoo keeper, 52, from Pitesti Zoo, 60 miles of Bucharest, Romania, was killed this morning in a couple of agonising minutes in the savage mauling.
It is reported that the keeper did not respect security procedures and entered the cage when it was too dangerous to.
Romanian media reported that while introducing the food, the caretaker allegedly ignored a standard safety procedure, which requires tigers to be completely separated from the access area.
At that point, one of the animals reacted and attacked the man.
The zoo keeper had been working there for several years.
Prosecutors and the police opened an investigation after the tragic case.
Representatives of Pitesti City Hall told The Sun Online: ”The man who was in charge of cleaning the area entered the cage of the tiger without respecting the security procedures.
“More precisely, according to the procedures, the worker had to get out the tiger in a yard protected with high fence during the cleaning and then to close the cage with a safety door.
“But the worker did not respect that measure, he forgot to close the safety door, the tiger entered back in his cage and bite him from the head.”
Emergency crews were called to the zoo after the incident but the man could not be saved and was pronounced dead.
Mayor Cristian Gentea said: “A zoo employee lost his life after being attacked by a tiger.
“This is the first time in 50 years that something like this has happened.
“It is a huge loss, and our thoughts go out to the victim’s family and all their loved ones in these moments of pain!
“From the first available information, the incident occurred as a result of the employee’s strict failure to comply with safety protocols, mandatory protocols for working with wild animals.”
Representatives of Pitesti Zoo told The Sun Online that in the following weeks the security procedures will be radically changed in order to prevent similar attacks in the future.
Several incidents with tigers occurred in the last decades in other Romanian zoos, including from Pitesti.
In 2000, a tiger escaped from Pitesti Zoo because a worker forgot to lock several doors.
Fortunately, the tiger was found after less than one hour in a forest close to the zoo and brought back to its cage.
In December 2023, a tiger escaped from Sibiu Zoo because a worker forgot to lock a door.
The tiger was located after over two hours and searches and was shot dead as it became very aggressive.
