In Florida, an employee at the Palm Beach Zoo was killed by an endangered tiger that she, according to zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter, had “dedicated her life to,” ABC News reports.
The zoo keeper, 38-year-old Stacey Konwiser, was killed on Friday after a male Malayan tiger attacked her.
Konwiser, the zoo’s lead tiger keeper, was killed in off-exhibit enclosure known as the tiger night house and according to officials with the zoo, it did not appear as if she had done anything out of the normal when the rare tiger attacked.
This is an endangered species that Stacey dedicated her life to
CNN notes that contrary to some early reports that surfaced on social media, the tiger was not loose. The tiger is currently “doing fine,” as she continues to recover following her run in with tranquilizers in the aftermath of the incident, Carter indicated.
Following the attack, the zoo issued a Code Red but later indicated in a statement that the zoo’s guests “were never in any danger,” although they “were ushered out of the Zoo in an orderly fashion” all the same as the zoo went into “lockdown” mode.
The tiger night house is where the zoo’s tigers are housed at night while they sleep and also where they are fed.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing at this time.
In their Friday statement, the zoo indicated that the recent death of Konwiser “marks the first death of a human involved in an animal incident in the history of Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society.”
The zoo will remain closed over the weekend while investigation into the attack continue.
