A tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest living cat in Asia, and the Siberian subspecies is the largest living cat on Earth. They are imposing beasts, measuring up to nine feet in length, weighing nearly 600 pounds, and have a bite force of over 1,000 pounds per square inch (psi), not to mention eighteen sharp retractable claws that may be up to four inches long. This isn't an animal you'd want to meet in a dark alley, or anywhere else for that matter, unless there was a stout barrier between you and said tiger.
So, when I mention that a New Jersey woman climbed over just such a barrier and stuck her hand into a tiger enclosure, you have a fairly good idea of just what a dumb idea that is.
A New Jersey woman has been charged after shocking video showed her entering a tiger closure at a south Jersey zoo last week, police said.
The Bridgeton Police Department said 24-year-old Zyair J. Dennis of Millville was arrested and charged with defiant trespassing and two city ordinance violations associated with climbing fences within a zoo.
The incident happened at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton on Aug. 18. Dennis was allegedly seen climbing over a wooden fence to reach the tiger.
In the video, it appeared as though she reached toward the tiger before the animal attempted to bite her hand.
Bear in mind that Dennis probably came within moments of having her hand bitten right off; fortunately for her, the tiger seems to have pawsed before attempting to bite. Perhaps the big cat wasn't feline well.
Zyair Dennis seems to be not only illiterate since she clearly didn't understand all of the ample warning signs posted around the enclosure, but also criminally reckless, as she entered a bear enclosure as well.
The video then showed her darting back over the fence and leaving the enclosure. The tiger paced near the fence after her departure.
A sign posted outside the tiger enclosure read, "Do not climb over the fence. Climbing over any zoo fence is against city ordinance 247-C."
Dennis was also allegedly caught-on-camera entering a bear enclosure on the same day.
Entering the tiger closure is one thing, but doubling down by entering a bear enclosure, well, trouble's bruin with that one.
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We can't blame the tiger for taking a swipe at Dennis's hand. It is a tiger, after all, and tigers are notoriously single-minded — they have only one tail to tell. Fortunately, the two-layered enclosure prevented the tiger from grabbing Dennis as she was perched atop the wall, although that would have made for a balanced diet for the cat.
Seriously, the list of people doing stupid things around big, dangerous animals seems to be getting longer day by day. It's impossible to know what Zyair Dennis was thinking, if indeed she was thinking at all, during this episode, but we can hope someone took her aside at some point and explained to her just what could very easily have happened.
For now, humans and tigers are all unharmed, so that is good news. Rumor has it that the tiger in question was later sighted playing cards with another of the zoo's big cats. The tiger lost. You see, he was playing with a cheetah.
I'll show myself out.
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