Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions… A woman was a whisker away from becoming a tiger’s lunch after she had the brilliant idea of hopping over a zoo fence in New Jersey, USA. A video shared on Facebook by the Bridgeton Police Department on Tuesday (August 20) showed the reckless zoo visitor sticking her hand through a wire enclosure.

The stunning video, which has since gone viral on social media, further displayed a Siberian tiger suddenly lunging toward the thoughtless woman before trying to bite her hand.

The feline enthusiast was subsequently filmed quickly pulling back then briefly pausing and gazing into the distance, almost as if she were posing for a photograph. Finally, the woman was captured on the same clip hopping back over the wooden fencing.

“A female at the Cohanzick Zoo went over the wooden fence at the tiger enclosure and began enticing the tiger almost getting bit by putting her hand through the wire enclosure,” the Bridgeton Police Department wrote on Facebook. 

A woman was a whisker away from becoming a tiger’s lunch after she hopped over a zoo fence in New Jersey, USA

Image credits: kintock

Image credits: cohanzick-zoo

The department went on to ask for assistance from members of the public to identify the culprit before referring to the local ordinance CO 247-C.

The New Jersey law explicitly prohibits climbing over any fences within zoo premises. Violating this ordinance could lead to legal consequences.

The penalties for jumping over a fence in a zoo to pet a tiger in New Jersey can vary depending on the specific charges brought against the individual. 

A video shared by local police on Tuesday (August 20) showed the reckless zoo visitor sticking her hand through a wire enclosure

Image credits: cohanzick-zoo

Image credits: cohanzick-zoo

The visitor might face charges of trespassing, reckless endangerment, animal cruelty, and even civil liability, all punishable with significant fines and jail time.

As the careless visitor has yet to be identified, she has seemingly come out of the situation alive. In previous incidents of the like, others have not been so lucky.

Back in 2014, a 20-year-old man who fell into a zoo’s enclosure in New Delhi, India, was killed by a white tiger.

Police asked for assistance from members of the public to identify the culprit

Image credits: NJ.com

Image credits: NJ.com

Witnesses said the visitor had lost his balance while trying to get a closer look. However, the zoo authorities claimed he had jumped in despite warnings, NDTV reported at the time.

“He crossed the barrier of the enclosure and jumped in,” Zoo Director Amitabh Agnihotri told the Indian outlet. 

Other officials reportedly said a guard had warned the young man after he crossed the outer fence and had even brought him out, but he went back in.

The New Jersey law explicitly prohibits climbing over any fences within zoo premises

Image credits: NJ.com

Back in 2017, zoo keeper Rosa King was mauled by a tiger at Hamerton Zoo Park, UK, after entering an enclosure without recognizing that a metal slide designed to isolate the animal had been left open.

The 33-year-old died on the scene from traumatic injuries from the attack by a Malayan male called Cicip, The Guardian reported in 2019.

In recent decades, there have been 256 injuries from animal attacks at accredited and non-accredited zoos, menageries, and wild animal parks in the US, CNN reported in 2016.

“She should be arrested,” a person commented on social media

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