Tiger expert agrees with co-pilot’s decision to shoot tiger at Naples Zoo

NAPLES

Collier County Sheriff fatally shot a tiger that bit a man at the Naples Zoo. A tiger expert in Southwest Florida said the co-pilot did the only thing that caused the tiger to immediately let go.

Behind the gate in Kowiachobee Collier County Animal Sanctuary has four tigers, but no Malayan tiger like 8-year-old Eko.

Jonathan Slaby is the Operations Manager of Kowiachobee Animal Sanctuary. He talks about the Malayan tiger. “There are less than 200 left in the wild. It is very, very dangerous. “

Because of their endangered status, some people commented on the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post with the video of Eko being shot, questioning what else could or should be done to stop the tiger. .

Slaby says nothing else can be done. “Actually, what you’re looking at is they’re going to have to shoot him, and unfortunately, here I’m probably going to have to do the same thing.”

Many people have asked if sedation gets the job done. Slaby said the answer to that question is no.

“No. There won’t be enough time. You want to think so. First, you’re going to have to take the device out. It’s not always available and you can’t keep it somewhere,” says Slaby. It takes time to work. It’s not like you can dart and it drops. You have to dart it and wait for it to fall asleep and sometimes the cat will go through some sort of euphoria as well. So, it can also make it angry.”

There are times when tranquilizers work for tigers, but those situations are not associated with potentially life-threatening situations. “Transporting a cat, moving a cat, medical procedures like that.”

With so few tigers left in the wild, Slaby said it’s unfortunate that the world now has less than one left. “I really feel bad because I know the zoo is very proud of that and they were so lucky to have the tiger.”

The recent situation at Naples Zoo is the reason why Slaby put in place more safety measures.

Unless you are a tiger expert like Slaby, you should maintain a safe distance from them.

Slaby said: ‘Obviously the tiger wouldn’t have been able to grab his hand if his hand hadn’t been in it.

An easily visible distance with many signs and locks at the tiger cages.

“Unfortunately in this world, you can build fences, you can put locks on, you can train people over and over again, but the point is you can’t stop people from doing things,” says Slaby. what they want or what they do” will do. “

After Wednesday night’s incident at Naples Zoo, he is thinking of increasing security measures around the perimeter fences at the Kowiachobee Animal Sanctuary. “Maybe we need to lock those down.”

Those extra locks won’t be for the tigers.

“The decisions we make after a situation like this, they never involve the animal,” says Slaby.

He said no matter what barriers you put up; People will do what they want.

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