Calgary Zoo Officials Can’t Imagine Why Mauled Man Scaled Fence At Tiger Exhibit

Police are trying to figure out why a pair of men scaled two fences at the Calgary Zoo in the dead of night and were attacked by a massive Siberian tiger.

The arms of one of the men were badly mauled in the encounter, which happened early Monday morning. The other man sustained only minor injuries. The first hint of a problem came about 1:03 a.m., when a two-second glimpse of one of the men was caught on security cameras near the enclosure which houses three of the zoo’s tigers.

The pair had scaled a 2 1/2-metre-high fence topped with barbed wire, which surrounds the property.

Two fences surround the tiger enclosure. The men hopped the shorter safety fence that keeps people back from the exhibit.

Only one of the giant cats, a two-year-old male named Vitali, was prowling outside at the time.

With only a slim wire fence between Vitali and the men, the tiger attacked.

It was short, but severe.

The security camera next caught the men as they were helped to a security station around 1:07 a.m. after calling a guard they knew who works nights at the zoo.

None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, according to the zoo. However, there were reports that said the more seriously injured man could lose an arm.

A person would have to be pressed up against the fence for the tiger to be able to reach them, since the tiger’s claws can’t reach far beyond it, said Tim Sinclair-Smith, the zoo’s Eurasia curator.

Dr. Sandie Black, head of the zoo’s veterinary services, said it’s likely the large cat used both teeth and claws to fight the intruder.

“Vitali’s a carnivore and he has a fairly significant armament at his disposal, very sharp claws,” she said.

“My guess would be the gentleman was hooked by a claw and the arm dragged in and then continued to be attacked from that point.”

The animal was very unsettled when keepers first saw him after the attack, but didn’t appear to be injured.

Keepers don’t know “whether Vitali was acting out of aggression or kind of a sense of protecting himself – it’s very unusual for him to have to deal with anyone in the middle of the night,” Black added.

Police said Monday morning they had spoken briefly to the less injured man but the extent of the other man’s injuries had kept him from being interviewed.

Criminal charges of break and enter and trespassing were being considered and it’s not yet known whether alcohol was involved, said Staff Sgt. Rick Halford.

There was no indication the men, who are both 27, were acting on behalf of any animal welfare groups, he said.

Neither police or zoo staff could offer a suggestion of why someone would try to get so close to the predatory animals.

“It wouldn’t be something I would try,” said Grahame Newton, a zoo director.

“I don’t think any reasonable person would want to get that close to a potentially dangerous carnivore. They are behind those enclosures for good reason and most definitely I would have to wonder what was going through a person’s mind to do something like that.”

Newton said there were four security guards on duty, but they have several responsibilities in the course of a shift, including checking on the animals.

“We don’t know what their intention was,” said Newton. “I think it is fair to say that if anybody puts their mind to it, they can breach any kind of security and that certainly seems to be the case here.”

Sinclair-Smith said the tiger was acting instinctively and would remain on display Monday as normal.

Bill Peters, national director of the Canadian Associations of Zoos and Aquariums said the zoo passed strict accreditation standards including security provisions two years ago. He said they had asked the zoo for more information but weren’t yet planning any kind of formal investigation.

Newton said the zoo will review the incident and see whether changes needed to be made to security measures.

Vitali was born at the zoo in July 2007 to much fanfare because there are only an estimated 450 of his species left in the wild.

This tiger attack is not the first to make headlines across North America.

A 17-year-old boy was killed at a San Francisco zoo on Christmas Day in 2007 when a tiger named Tatiana escaped her cage. She also injured two brothers before being shot by police.

Siberian tigers are an endangered species found in the Amur Valley of northeastern Russia. They are threatened by habitat destruction and overhunting for their luxurious pelts and for body parts used in traditional medicines.

They are the largest species of cat in the world. Males weigh between 180 and 305 kilograms and can grow to be between three and 3 1/2 metres in length from their nose to the tip of their tail.

In the wild, the tigers eat mainly wild boars, deer and antelope. They ambush their target, sneaking up on it and then stopping within a few metres until ready to attack – sometimes waiting for up to two hours.

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