If you’re still reeling from the Harambe tragedy of 2016, this list is for you.
Here’s twelve other times that people ended up in zoo enclosures
10 - Jambo • In what is possibly the closest parallel
to Harambe, 5-year-old Levan Merritt fell 20 feet into a gorilla enclosure at the Jersey
Zoo • A silver back gorilla by the name of Jambo
stood guard over the unconscious child while the rest of the gorillas looked on.
• Levan is now a healthy 35-year-old, and Jambo lives on in spirit as a hero.
9 - Berlin Zoo • A teacher and mother voluntarily jumped
into the polar bear exhibit and started swimming towards the bears during their feeding time
• As bears began to maul her, zookeepers were able to pull the woman away; saving both
the mother and the polar bears • While her mental state still isn’t totally
clear, she was given a citation for trespassing. 8 - Tiger
• In 2016, a woman at the Toronto zoo voluntarily launched herself into a tiger exhibit TO RETRIEVE
HER HAT • Luckily for her, when the Sumatran tiger
decided she was prey, there was another fence separating her from the big kitty’s lunge;
and the woman hopped right back out, unharmed.
• Thankfully for one onlooker with video capabilities, her stupidity will live on in
the Interwebs indefinitely.
7 - Lion • In May of 2016, a young man attempted
suicide by walking, totally naked, into the lion enclosure at the Santiago Metropolitan
Zoo in Chile.
• Onlookers claim he started lunging at the lions, spewing “apocalyptic proverbs”
• When the lions took the bait and mauled the man, zookeepers were forced to shoot the
2 lions to save the man’s life • R.I.P.
6 – Tiger #2 • The 23-year-old man scaled a 20 foot wall
to jump into a tiger enclosure at in Indian zoo, took his shirt off, and started pacing
and intimidating the tigers • Believed to be drunk, the man carried
on dancing and pacing for nearly 45 minutes while the tigers cowered in the corner
• Eventually security came and rescued the tigers from the man by locking them in their
cage.
5 – Dogs • When a two year old fell into an African
painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh zoo, all eleven dogs immediately started attacking
him • Zookeepers eventually got the dogs away
from the boy, but when EMS arrived on the scene the toddler was pronounced dead.
• The dogs are considered endangered, and hunt in large packs in the wild.
4 – Jaguar • A 3 year old in Arkansas fell into the
Jaguar enclosure in 2014; • When his father throwing random objects
at the animal didn’t deter it, employees used fire extinguishers to keep the big cat
at bay • Both the jaguar and the child survived;
who knew fire extinguishers were so versatile?
3– Tiger #3 • A Nebraska woman was charged with trespassing
after breaking into Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo on Halloween one year so she could “pet”
a 3-legged tiger • As it turns out, tigers aren’t house
cats that like to be pet.
The tiger did a number on the woman’s hand that landed her in the hospital and ultimately
gave her away for trespassing. 2 – Lion
• When zookeepers found a man’s remains in the lions’ den in the Melbourne zoo,
they weren’t sure what had inspired a man to sneak in during the night
• Authorities later discovered that the man had briefly visited a mental hospital
(not for vacation), and that his kung fu teacher had told the man’s class that they were
now able to “fight animals with their bare hands”
• That teacher’s a liar.
1 – Monkey • A tourist at the Fuzhou Zoo was trying
to snap a pick of the monkies, when one decided to swipe the phone.
• Said tourist responded by climbing into the enclosure to try and get his phone back-
casual.
• The Macaques clearly aren’t fans of Instagram, because they proceeded to beat
the man up until zoo employees could intervene.
• No monkey business allowed.