Visit Singapore Zoo: Zoo: When Animals Attack

Friday, February 23, 2007

Zoo: When Animals Attack

A crocodile attacked a zookeeper at Singapore's zoo, puncturing the 37-year-old's leg in seven places and leaving a tooth stuck in his calf -- the third incident of animals gone amok at the zoo in the year 2005.

The zookeeper was cleaning the crocodile's den when a 1.7 metre (5 ft 7 in) crocodile suddenly charged and bit him, the zoo said on Thursday in a brief statement on the April 10 incident. "When the crocodile bit me, all I could think of was to get my left leg out of the crocodile's mouth," zookeeper Jamaludin Abdul Wahid told The New Paper, an English daily.

On Sunday, a female jaguar escaped from its enclosure before being sedated and captured about an hour later. On Monday, a one metre (3 ft) wild African cat leapt off a stage during a performance and clawed a tourist's foot, causing an infection.

Zoo officials said measures are being taken to ensure the safety of its keepers and visitors.

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