An NJ Woman is Charged With Jumping Over a Zoo Fence After Having a Close Call With a Tiger
Police say a woman hopped over a fence at a zoo in New Jersey and almost got bitten by a tiger. She has been charged.
Police in Bridgeton said in a statement Monday that 24-year-old Zyair J. Dennis of Millville is charged with defiant trespassing and breaking two city laws after they say he climbed fences at the zoo on August 18.
Tuesday, the city’s Recreation Department got video and still photos from people who went to the Cohanzick Zoo showing someone who “jumped over a fence and approached the caged enclosure of the tiger, reaching into the cage before quickly pulling her hand out when the animal reacted aggressively,” according to the statement. This led to the start of the investigation.
Police say there is a film of a similar event that happened with the same person on the same day and involved the bear enclosure.
A video shows a woman jumping over a wooden fence that was meant to keep people away from the tigers. She then climbs up the tall metal fence and puts her hand through a hole in it, as if she were trying to pet the animal.
The tiger quickly moves its teeth toward her, so she has to quickly take her hand off of it and move away. Before going back over the wooden fence, she stops and poses.
Dennis is due to go to the city’s local court next month.
It wasn’t clear right away on Monday afternoon if Dennis had hired a lawyer. On Monday afternoon, attempts to get in touch with her failed.
A woman went into the lion enclosure at the Bronx Zoo in New York in 2019 and stood feet away from one of the lions. This event is similar.