Video: Man climbs over barrier between him and tiger at Oakland Zoo
OAKLAND (KRON) — A man climbed over the 42-inch safety railing between him and Ginger the tiger on Sunday at the Oakland Zoo.
In the video, the man climbs over the barrier surrounded by people at the tiger pit.
This triggered the tiger to get up and walk over to the edge of the fence.
The tiger was unable to do anything to the man thanks to the fence.
Oakland Zoo President Joel Parrott says the man jumped the railing after dropping his sunglasses.
Zoo officials say he should have contacted the zoo staff and not tried to retrieve them himself.
Especially with four tigers on the other side of the 16-foot high chain link fence.
“The reason we consider this a hazard is because they are predators and they will treat us as prey and come right down if the opportunity arises,” Parrott said.
There are no signs saying not to jump the railing and the zoo has no plans to add them.
But they will redeploy staff to keep an eye on guests and be deterrent fir bad behavior.
“We will have our staff and volunteers out on the grounds a lot more so they can keep an eye on the public who can do stupid things and put themselves at risk.”
Those visiting Ginger and the other tigers on Tuesday couldn’t believe someone would jump the safety railing.