Tiger victim’s final screams
Zoo disputes autopsy report note that she called on radio for help
A Palm Beach County zookeeper screamed into her handheld radio just before a tiger mauled her to death, according to a newly released medical examiner’s report.
The document gives new details on the death of Stacey Konwiser, who was killed April 15 by an endangered Malayan tiger at the Palm Beach Zoo.
But zoo officials are disputing some of the investigative notes and saying the report contains inaccuracies. In a statement released Friday, zoo officials said no one interviewed in their internal investigation
heard Konwiser radio for help. Instead, the first radio call came from a maintenance staff member who was about 100 feet away and heard a screamcoming from the tiger night house where Konwiserwasworking.
Aleita Kinman, a forensic investigator who wrote the report in question, could not be reachedforcommentFriday.
An autopsy showed Konwiser, 37, died from bites to the neck that fractured her spine and cut several arteries and her right jugular vein. She also suffered nonlethal claw injuries to her chest, shoulder and arm, according to the report.
Jeff Miller, Konwiser’s uncle, said he still hasn’t gained closure on the events that led to his niece’s death. He is waiting for the results of other pending investigations.
“I still have a lot of questions,” he said. “I may never get the answers to the questions, but I’ll wait until we have the final reports.”
The tiger night house has four enclosures, all of which were locked except for one, according to the report. Investigators found all the doors to that enclosure open, and two padlocks hanging outside the keeper door.
The cage had a placard indicating that animals had access to the area, according to the report. A box large enough to block Konwiser’s view of the tiger was inside the cage, an investigator wrote.
Zoo officials said the “box” mentioned in the report were panels that were part of a birthing den, and they do not think they played a role in Konwiser’s death.
In previous statements, zoo officials have said Konwiser violated policy by entering the enclosure. Zoo president Andrew Aiken said employees “are never allowed to enter a tiger enclosure to which the animal has access.” Miller said he
questions Aiken’s accounting of the attack and wants further investigation.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is investigating the attack and does not have a time frame for when its report will be released, said Carol Lyn Parrish, an agency spokeswoman.
When a nearby maintenance worker heard Konwiser’s screams, he ran to her aid and saw a tiger standingover her anda large puddle of blood, according to the medical examiner’s report. Zoo officials said none of the maintenance workers they interviewed told them they saw the tiger standing over Konwiser’s body.
Ron Magill, a spokesman for Zoo Miami, said a skilled zookeeper such asKonwiser would never knowingly walk into an enclosure a tiger had access to. He compared walking into an alpha male tiger’s enclosure to walking in front of a car going 55mphon the highway.
“There is no gray or blurry area around this,” he said. “When working with a tiger you never put yourself in a position where the tiger could have access to you.”
Zoo staff tried unsuccessfully to lure the tiger away from Konwiser, and the lead veterinarian fired a tranquilizer
dart that subdued the tiger, the medical examiner’s report states.
The attackwas called into 911at1:56p.m., andKonwiser was pronounced dead an hour later at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, according to the report.
The report identifies the tiger that killed Konwiser as Hati, a 12-year-old, 350-pound male tiger. Only about 300Malayan tigers remain in thewild.
Zoo officials have declined to confirm which tiger killedKonwiser.
A toxicology report showed no presence of alcohol or illegal drugs in Konwiser’s system. It detected Topiramate, a drug prescribed to treat and prevent seizures or migraine headaches. Konwiser didn’t have epilepsy, but she took medication to prevent migraines, her uncle said.
In thewake ofKonwiser’s death, zoo officials say they increased training for keepers and implemented a policy where two keepers must work together whenever a tiger ismoved.