Woman charged with trespassing after entering South Jersey zoo’s tiger enclosure
Police said there is another video of the same woman attempting to enter the bear enclosure at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton, N.J.
A New Jersey woman caught on camera enticing a 500-pound Bengal tiger at a zoo in Cumberland County, N.J., has been charged with trespassing.
Zyair Dennis, 24, of Millville, N.J., is facing one count of defiant trespassing after she hopped the fence at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton earlier this month, coming face-to-face with one of the zoo’s tigers.
In a since-deleted video posted to Facebook by the Bridgeton Police Department, a woman now identified as Dennis is seen taunting Mahesha, the zoo’s 7-year-old Bengal tiger. Onlookers then watched as Dennis nearly gets her hand bitten before climbing back over the wooden fence to seemingly continue her zoo trip.
» READ MORE: A woman climbed into the tiger enclosure at a South Jersey zoo
Dennis was also cited for violating city ordinances that prohibit people from climbing the zoo’s fences, which could result in being banned from the Bridgeton’s park facilities and up to a $2,000 fine.
Police told reporters that they also obtained video footage “depicting the same scenario at the bear enclosure the same day involving the same person.”
“I was horrified honestly,” John Medica, director of Recreation and Public Affairs for the City of Bridgeton, told CBS3. “I hope the individual recognizes how lucky they were to still have all of their limbs.”
Animal keeper Avery Menear told 6abc that Mahesha — the tiger — was displaying “predatory behaviors” in the video.
“That back-and-forth behavior that he did is like a pacing thing,” said Menear. “You can also see his tail is going and that’s an agitated behavior.”
Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari Sr. told reporters that the social media attention the video received helped the department identify Dennis.
Dennis will appear at Bridgeton Municipal Court, police said, but a date has not yet been determined.
The Cohanzick Zoo said it was “evaluating measures related to the safety of our animals and visitors,” including reviews with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s fish and wildlife division and the United States Department of Agriculture.