Video: Man Climbs Over Tiger Barrier at Oakland Zoo, Officials Release Warning

A man was filmed jumping over a barrier near a tiger cage at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, California.

The tiger was seen prowling near the outer edge of its cage at the zoo as the man stood outside the fence.

“He was on a viewing deck, and it has a 42-inch rail,” said Joel Parrott, CEO and president of the Oakland Zoo, ABC7 reported. “The chain link fence keeps the tiger in, but then sometimes they think they can pet the tiger in which case the fingers go through the mesh and that’s when it can get dangerous for the public.”

“You cannot design for irresponsible and stupid behavior,” concluded Parrott.

The man wasn’t injured, but the zoo issued a warning about the tiger enclosure.

A man was filmed jumping over a barrier near a tiger cage at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. Fox

“The Oakland zoo meets and exceeds safety requirements set by state, federal, and AZA accreditation standards,” Erin Dogan Harrison told KTVU in a statement on Oct. 17. “We hope that all of our visitors act responsibly, and don’t attempt to put themselves in potentially unsafe situations. We thank the zoo guests that reacted to this individual’s actions when it occurred and alerting us.”

Patty Fayad, 35, told KTVU that she recorded what the man was doing. “He was trying to retrieve something but we didn’t see what it was,” Fayad said.

Fayad said that a young man in the crowd scolded him and said he was stressing out the tigers. “It really bothers me,” she said. “I love animals. They’re in their home. It’s just not right. “

Zoo officials told CBS San Francisco that even specially trained experts are not allowed in the tiger’s enclosure.

“In the end, these are predators and their instinct is to be a predator,” said Parrott.

Tiger Attack in 2007

At the San Francisco zoo in 2007, three young men were mauled by a Siberian tiger, who had jumped over a wall. Carlos Eduardo Sousa, 17, was killed in the incident and two others were injured.

“It appears the tiger was able to jump from the bottom of the dry moat to the top of the wall, and gain enough purchase over the top to pull herself out over the moat wall,” said Laurie Gage, who is a tiger expert and investigated the matter  for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, according to the CBS SF report.

After attacking Sousa, the tiger, named Tatiana, likely followed the other men’s blood and resumed her attack.

“After a kill, I find it interesting the tiger would leave a kill to go after something else unless there were a compelling reason,” Gage said in the report. “The tiger passed exhibits with warthogs which it ignored as it followed (the blood trail) of the two brothers to the Terrace Cafe outside the dining area.”