The caretaker was an idiot. But then, if you’d actually read the report in question, you would have known that.
Instead of feeding the animal through the bars, the keeper STUCK HER HAND THROUGH THE BARS WHILE CARRYING MEAT.
What do *you* think a hungry cat is going to do? Here’s a hint - try handing a treat to a hungry housecat and carefully watch what they do. The little cat will anxiously bat or grasp your arm while gnawing at your hand in the course of getting food from you. If the cat is really hungry, it will attack your hand to get to the food. A big cat does the same thing, except the scale difference means that even if they’re not intent on causing harm, they can do so inadvertently.
The zoo’s protocol involves (as the Dirty Jobs episode showed) feeding the big cats from outside the cage and never letting your arm get inside the cage. The keeper broke the rules and paid with her arm.
If you are working on heavy machinery and you ignore your training that says that “sticking an arm inside device while operating could cause serious injury or death” and lose your arm for doing so, do you blame the machine? Or do you blame yourself for being stupid?
She did NOT stick her hands through the bars!! The cat swiped her outside the bars.