A Sumatran tiger has killed a keeper at a zoo in Poland – the day before it was due to host an international conference of zoo directors.
The tragedy occurred in the morning hours on Wednesday during a routine cleaning of the enclosure and the cages.
The animals are locked in a separate area at the time but it appears that the keeper on duty failed to lock the door properly. The man had worked at the Zoo for twenty years.
The accident happened shortly before the opening of a Conference of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Radosław Ratajszczak, the director of the Wrocław Zoo, which hosts the gathering, informed some 700 participants about the tragedy and asked them to pay respects to its victim with a minute of silence. “It is the saddest day in my life,” he said.
The Sumatran tiger is a rare tiger subspecies inhabiting the Indonesian island of Sumatra. With a population of about 500, it is listed as one of critically endangered species. The Wrocław Zoo has a pair of these animals.
Agencies/Canadajournal