Here kitty kitty kitty, I want a Selfie.

[JaxDad]

Did she get the picture?

 

[ronandannette]

Did she get the picture?

Until now I hadn’t seen the exact set up and had imagined her having gotten herself right inside the enclosure somehow. I’m kind of surprised more people haven’t done what she did, given how many seem to feel free to ignore rules and guidelines when it suits them.

 

[torene03]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[NotUrsula]

A clip of a similar selfie taker at LSU was making the rounds on FB last year. Luckily, Mike's enclosure has glass windows to the viewing area rather than wire fencing, or this would have been a lot less funny to watch (and remember, Mike is not yet full-grown):

https://www.facebook.com/kj.speedy/videos/vb.100010049267362/696280917383544

Unfortunately, the viral fame of this encounter caused a rash of other idiots wanting to get video of Mike trying to jump THEM from behind, and the veterinary staff that cares for him had to post signs and ask the campus police to ticket people who got caught doing it. Cats can break their teeth jumping like that at a glass wall, and tooth loss is a major cause of illness in big cats.

 

[ronandannette]

A clip of a similar selfie taker at LSU was making the rounds on FB last year. Luckily, Mike's enclosure has glass windows to the viewing area rather than wire fencing, or this would have been a lot less funny to watch (and remember, Mike is not yet full-grown):

https://www.facebook.com/kj.speedy/videos/vb.100010049267362/696280917383544

Unfortunately, the viral fame of this encounter caused a rash of other idiots wanting to get video of Mike trying to jump THEM from behind, and the veterinary staff that cares for him had to post signs and ask the campus police to ticket people who got caught doing it. Cats can break their teeth jumping like that at a glass wall, and tooth loss is a major cause of illness in big cats.

I don't understand what the people were doing wrong there. There were many of them standing by the glass - it does not appear to be a restricted area. Also none of them seem to be trying to provoke the tiger. Please explain it to me.

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't understand what the people were doing wrong there. There were many of them standing by the glass - it does not appear to be a restricted area. Also none of them seem to be trying to provoke the tiger. Please explain it to me.

It wasn't at that time a restricted area, and it still isn't, though now signs and police officers warn bystanders not to stand with their backs close to the glass. The man that you see in the film was on his phone talking, with the habitat window in the background, and may or may not have been filming the conversation. He was not deliberately enticing the tiger to stalk him.

The problem comes from the possibilities of having a big cat selfie go viral, as this film did (even though it was not taken by the person who was the tiger's target). After the tiger displayed this behavior on film, other people became aware that it was possible to entice him into stalking and began doing it on purpose, hoping that THEIR film of it would go viral, too. That was the problem, because it was likely that being tricked into an attack would cause harm to the cat. (Just as it is not outside the realm of possibility that, if the jaguar in the other story had managed to kill the selfie-taker, that cat might have been put down for it, regardless of how severe her provocation was.)

 

[WorldWacky]

Here is a photo. She definitely had to heave herself up and over the barrier. The cage looks to be a good 4ft(?) at least back. So even if one leans forward and extends their arms, they aren't close enough to the cage for the jaguar to swipe through to them. I'm not sure how deep is the shrubbery in between and whether she can stand on any soil once over the barrier. But, is anyone not able to figure out, other than this imbecile and small children, that the barrier is there to keep people away from being right up against the cage? She had to have been bending down, leaning against the cage, if she wanted her face near the jaguar to get a selfie.

Yes. Frankly, all news media should be posting a pic of her full face dead on, laying on the ground, since she was so desperate to post a selfie of herself. She wanted a pic that badly, GIVE IT TO HER. Maybe that would make other stupid people think first, if their imbecile actions would be plastered all over the media.

Thanks, Imzadi. I had been looking for a photo of the enclosure and just couldn’t track one down. While she was an idiot for hopping over a wall and through the bushes to get the purrrrfect shot(sorry, just had to ), I’m amazed that there isn’t more of a barrier. As someone said before, with the amount of morons who can’t seem to understand, follow or care about the rules, I’m just surprised that in this sue-happy world of ours, the zoo wouldn’t have even more in place to deter people from doing exactly what she did.

 

[BrianL]

Thanks, Imzadi. I had been looking for a photo of the enclosure and just couldn’t track one down. While she was an idiot for hopping over a wall and through the bushes to get the purrrrfect shot(sorry, just had to ), I’m amazed that there isn’t more of a barrier. As someone said before, with the amount of morons who can’t seem to understand, follow or care about the rules, I’m just surprised that in this sue-happy world of ours, the zoo wouldn’t have even more in place to deter people from doing exactly what she did.

Our zoo has a similar setup for the big cat section. There is a wooden boardwalk with railing that is a few feet from the wire cage like the one shown. Someone could easily hop the wooden part. Some of the animals don't even have the wire cage, though there is a moat or other barrier beyond the regular railing (the Cheetahs, Tigers, and Lions are all like this, not to mention all the animals in the primate area). There are rarely any problems though.

 

[soccerdad72]

And now, shockingly , she's backtracking...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-attacked-jaguar-arizona-zoo-120658320.html

 

[goofyintoronto]

Many more die Worldwide trying to get the perfect selfie...

Yep, i remember a lady was straddling the rock barrier in Niagara falls...to get the perfect picture...she ended up falling over right into the falls. Never to be found. I just dont understand why people do such stupid things.

 

[Jennasis]

And now, shockingly , she's backtracking...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-attacked-jaguar-arizona-zoo-120658320.html

In other words, she lawyered up.

 

[Kitty 34]

In other words, she lawyered up.

Hopefully they have witnesses who will stick to the scene they saw and in which the woman first admitted.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

And now, shockingly , she's backtracking...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-attacked-jaguar-arizona-zoo-120658320.html

She is right about one thing. That concrete barrier did look to me to be too close to the cage. It looked a bit too short too.

As for her not expecting the paw to come through the cage uh why did she think the concrete barrier was there and they wouldn't just let people walk right up to the fence? Duh....

There are eyewitnesses so they will be able to testify as to what went on.