Grisly bodycam video caught the moment a Collier County Constable’s deputy fatally shot an endangered Malayan tiger at the Naples Zoo after the animal assaulted a third-party cleansing employee, who stuck his arm into the tiger’s enclosure, authorities state.
Caution– Traumatic Video Below. Viewer Discretion is Advised:
Published by Collier County Constable’s Workplace on Thursday, December 30, 2021
The event occurred Wednesday evening after the zoo was closed for the day. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) states a preliminary examination showed the cleaning company worker, later on determined as Naples resident River Rosenquist, 26, “traversed a preliminary fence barrier and put his arm through the fencing of the tiger enclosure” to either feed or family pet the eight-year-old tiger called Eko.
Workers for the cleaning business are not authorized to go near the tiger enclosure. “The cleansing business is accountable for cleaning toilets and the present shop, not the animal enclosures,” the CCSO stated.
The Malayan tiger then grabbed onto the employee’s arm and pulled it into the enclosure, per the CCSO.
Deputies were dispatched to the area at 6:26 p.m. The first deputy on scene found the tiger latched onto the man’s arm through the enclosure fence, according to bodycam video.
In the footage, the deputy approaches the tiger’s enclosure to the noises of blood-curdling screams.
“Please assist me! Please, please, please!” Rosenquist sobbed out in desperation.
“The deputy initially attempted to get the tiger to release the arm however he was entrusted no choice but to shoot the animal in order to conserve Rosenquist’s life,” the CCSO stated.
After being shot, Eko “retreated to the back of the enclosure,” and Rosenquist was transferred to a regional medical facility with major injuries.
Deputies flew a drone into the enclosure to look at the tiger’s status and discovered the animal was unresponsive, the CCSO mentioned. Eko was tranquilized, and a veterinarian went into the home after he was sedated and determined him to be dead.
Collier County Constable Kevin Rambosk offered a statement on the shooting:
Our deputy did whatever he could perform in that situation and he ultimately made the only possible choice he could in order to conserve this guy’s life. This was an awful encounter at our first-rate zoo center. We value our community partnership with the Naples Zoo and their concentrate on preservation and education.
Rosenquist might face criminal charges depending upon the outcomes of the CCSO’s examination.
The zoo’s director of public relations and public marketing, Courtney Jolly, spoke to reporters Thursday.
“We totally support CCSO and what they had to do,” Jolly stated. “At the end of the day, if a person remains in imminent danger, they have to take that action, and we support CCSO, and the officer, unfortunately, needed to do his task.”
She kept in mind the zoo has a “shoot group” and a “lead darter” specially trained for crisis circumstances when the zoo is open to the general public, but as the incident taken place after hours, the group was not on scene.
The occurrence brings to mind the fatal shooting of the 400-pound gorilla Harambe in 2016. The ape dragged around a 4-year-old kid who had fallen into his enclosure at the Cincinnati zoo, Breitbart News formerly reported.