Tiger kills amusement park worker in South Africa
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A South African theme park worker has died after being attacked by a Siberian tiger that jumped over an electric fence, killing the man on the spot, police said Thursday.
The accident occurred on Wednesday at Sea View Predators Park, about 30 kilometers from Kiberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).
Police spokeswoman Priscilla Naidoo said a 50-year-old man was repairing an electric fence in one of the pens when a tiger jumped over him, killing him instantly, and indicated that police were "investigating" the incident.
The amusement park explained that the employee in question is David Solomon, and he has been working at the park for 15 years.
The park said in a statement that the man was "walking along a path between the pens when he was attacked by a tiger named Jasper."
He added, "David tried to climb the fence of another enclosure to save himself, and was pulled from the fence.. Jasper tiger apparently broke David's neck when he pulled him from the fence." Zoo officials said the tiger then jumped into another enclosure, fought with another tiger and killed it.
In 2015, an American volunteer in her twenties survived a two-year-old Siberian tiger in the park.
Tigers are not endemic to South Africa, but there are about 1,500 of them in captivity in South Africa, according to the animal welfare organization Four Pose.
"These animals do not enjoy any legal protection in South Africa, and therefore it is easy for breeders to import, mate or keep tigers in captivity," said Fiona Miles, director of the organization's Africa office.