COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The Collier County Sheriff’s Office released a video Friday of first responders tending to the victim of a tiger attack on Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office first said the attack happened after an employee of Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours entered a tiger’s enclosure while it was being fed by its owner.
Deputies said the employee, 48-year-old Ignacio “Nacho” Meabe Martinez, was not authorized to be with the tiger at the time of the attack.
“Nacho, what were you doing in the cage?” a deputy asked while bandaging the man’s bloody arms.
However, a man in the video said that he didn’t think Meabe Martinez was in the cage and was actually pulled inside by the tiger.
The deputy said it appeared that Meabe Martinez’s wounds were down to the bone but did not appear to cut his arteries. A part of his middle finger was also severed by the tiger, according to the deputy.
“Am I f— dead?” the man said as he groaned in pain.
Collier County EMS took Meabe Martinez to an area hospital for treatment. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is investigating what happened.
