Cameras were rolling when a man who dropped his glasses climbed over a tiger enclosure to retrieve them, KRON 4 reports.
Oakland Zoo officials say it was a dangerous and “stupid” thing to do. A video shows the man, surrounded by people, climb over the barrier and partially into the tiger pit. He quickly climbs out of the enclosure once Ginger, one of the tigers, starts walking toward the edge of the fence.
Oakland Zoo President Joel Parrott says the man jumped the railing after dropping his sunglasses.
Zoo officials say he should have contacted the zoo staff and not tried to retrieve them himself, especially with four tigers on the other side of the 16-foot high chain link fence.
“The reason we consider this a hazard is because they are predators and they will treat us as prey and come right down if the opportunity arises,” Parrott said.
There are no signs saying not to jump the railing and the zoo has no plans to add them.
But they will redeploy staff to keep an eye on guests and be deterrent for bad behavior.
“We will have our staff and volunteers out on the grounds a lot more so they can keep an eye on the public who can do stupid things and put themselves at risk.”
