Tragedy in Naples

There were a few things that I thought I might write about today, as yet another long, confusing year winds down.  Then I saw the news last night, right before I went to bed, and I figured that if I'm writing about zoos, there's really only one story that most people will be thinking about today.

Poor, poor Eko.

Man bitten by tiger at Naples Zoo taken to Lee Memorial Hospital; tiger shot, killed

The 8-year old Malayan tiger was fatally shot yesterday at the Naples Zoo after grabbing the arm of a contractor who foolishly put an arm through the enclosure barrier.  The man was employed by a third-party company that performs janitorial services at the zoo, and had no business either being in the immediate vicinity of the tiger or interacting with it at all.  Because of his poor decisions, he is hospitalized and a beautiful animal has been destroyed.  In many ways, it's much more frustrating that what happened with Harambe - that was a child, whereas this was a grown adult who, while not a zoo employee per se, ha doubtlessly been told not to do something like this.

I'm so sorry for the staff at Naples Zoo and the community that loved visiting Eko.  All of us in the zoo and aquarium community are thinking of you during this tragic time.