They said on the news that the door to the cage had been left partially open so he was able to get his paw under there and lift it up.
What are the odds that this naive girl did that on purpose hoping that Cous Cous would lift up the door and come in to see her.
Same thing happened with a tiger here at the San Antonio Zoo - the keeper neglected to completely shut the steel door, cat came in and started “playing” with the keeper. He managed to pull out his pepper spray and let the cat have a big dose, then escaped. My daughter worked with him a few summers ago - he has long, ugly scars all across his scalp and says, “it was completely my fault”.
Scary, but much better outcome than here.
“.. what are the odds that this naive girl...”
It makes me wonder simply because she was “frustrated” (according to the article and her family) that she couldn’t hang out with the big cats. Perhaps she did leave the cage open in hopes of an “accidental” meeting with the animal (thinking it would be loving instead of what it was).