Posted on 04/16/2016 4:58:39 AM PDT by HomerBohn
PALM BEACH, Fla. _ An employee at the Palm Beach Zoo died in a Malayan tiger attack while performing a routine procedure Friday afternoon, a zoo spokeswoman said.
Zoo officials confirmed tiger handler Stacey Konwesier was killed Friday by a tiger.
Zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter said Konweiser was preparing a male tiger for a show at the zoo called "Tiger Talk" just before 2 p.m. when the attack happened.
Konweiser, a three-year veteran of the zoo and tiger expert, was doing normal procedural actions with the tiger when it attacked her. Her husband also works for the zoo.
"Stacey was an expert," Carter said. "She dedicated her life to her mission of protecting tigers."
The male tiger was quickly subdued, allowing officials to reach the woman. She was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center, where she died.
"This is a family who is in mourning right now," Carter said of the zoo employees. "We all, myself included, doubled over. We're a close-knit group here at Palm Beach Zoo. There were tears."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be investigating the death. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and grief counselors were at the zoo.
"It's very new and all the details are still coming in," said Carol Lyn Parrish, spokeswoman for the wildlife commission. "Because it's an active investigation for us, we are not releasing any information."
Malayan tigers are "an endangered species _ less than 250 in the wild. Four live here at Palm Beach Zoo," Carter said.
Zoo keepers help breed the tigers to make sure they don't go extinct, Carter said. "So that's what was going on with this keeper here today, and this is just an unfortunate situation," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
It would appear that the poor girl had used exceedingly poor judgment by applying a tiger-like face.
Oh dear. That’s truly a crying shame.
RIP Stacey.
No doubt. Show up with all that makeup and that toothy grin? The tiger is probably feeling he is lucky to be alive.
OSHA is on the case...all is well.
Prayers for her husband and family.
That zoo has an enclosure fence without a moat that allows visitors to get extremely close to the tigers.
Yeah, wow. She looks young. At least she made a living doing something she loved. Reminds me a little of Steve Irwin. My gallows humor just isn’t kicking in on this one.
Horrible. I’ve been to that zoo, it is very nicely done. Small but we have many joyful family memories there. Two very good dates as well.
On our last visit we stopped by the tiger area. The tiger was in a foul mood and roaring by the time we arrived at the exhibit. That roar goes right through you and we were inches away through the glass. I could not imagine approaching one of these things if it was having a partially bad day.
A terrible way to go.
Boy - what’s with some of the nasty comments? You people are disgusting.
Zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter said Konweiser was preparing a male tiger for a show at the zoo called “Tiger Talk” just before 2 p.m. when the attack happened.
...
The tiger was probably fed up and not going to take it any more. I don’t think tigers in the wild do talk shows in the middle of the afternoon.
My dad has a tanned badger hide. Sneaking up to the sleeping cat with it draped over your hand/arm is unwise. There will be blood.
The story contradicts itself. She was either a) preparing the tiger for a show or b) helping the tiger to breed. I can’t imagine she was doing both at the same time or no wonder the tiger got aggressive.
I’m hoping the make-up in the photo was for some publicity photo and not what she wears to interact with the tiger or I think we can figure out why the attack happened. Maybe the tiger was just LGBT and trying to rid his species of a creepy-looking queer version of his kind.
I saw her picture and said I hope she didn’t get near the tigers wearing that face paint.
RIP
Roofers...convenience sore clerks...tiger experts at zoos...all well known to be dangerous occupations.
convenience *store*!
Being killed by a dangerous wild animal is another part of life. I don’t feel sorry for her. It was what she chose. I am sure she will be missed. But that isn’t for me.
It’s a publicity photo, dumbass.
It’s a publicity photo, dumbass.
I worked for years in a big city ER and we saw it all...every day.Heart attacks...strokes...cancer...car accidents...slip and fall in the shower...gunshot wounds...stab wounds...drug ODs...burns.Even a guy who had a light bulb stuck up his bum (long story).But I never saw...and never heard anyone else claim to have seen..."mauled by a tiger".
No kidding. She looks like a lovely girl. What a tragedy. Lord knows I'm no greenie, but tigers are one of His most magnificent creations, and God bless her for putting herself on the line to try and save them. I'm sure she was as prepared and cautious as one could be, but when dealing with lethal creatures one never knows what could happen.
I'm a cat fanatic and loved science as a kid, this could have been me had I not had art as an avenue. Luckily graphic design is about as non-threatening as possible.
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