Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Zoo Miami ID’s worker bitten on finger by tiger
The zookeeper who breached protocol and was bitten by a male Sumatran tiger at Zoo Miami has been identified as Emily Mack, a two-year employee of the zoo, a spokesman said.
The tiger, identified as an 8-year-old tiger named Berani, bit Mack’s left index fingertip around 2 p.m. Tuesday, Ron Magill said, taking off a portion of the fingertip. Mack had been hand-feeding the animal, which isn’t allowed due to the risk it poses.
Still, Magill said the breach wasn’t enough to cause Mack to lose her employment at the zoo, Magill said.
“She will not lose her job over this incident though there is a likelihood that she will receive a Record of Counseling for not following proper protocol,” Magill said in an email Wednesday.
Magill said Tuesday that Berani’s status at the zoo wouldn’t change either.
“Nothing’s going to happen to the tiger,” Magill said. “The tiger was just being a tiger.”
Mack was treated at Jackson South Hospital and was released Tuesday evening, Magill said, adding she was at home resting on Wednesday.
Mack was taken to Jackson after the 2 p.m. Tuesday incident, and was treated and released Tuesday night. It wasn’t clear if the fingertip was fully repaired.
“I don’t know if she ‘lost’ her fingertip, but I do know that there will be significant permanent scarring to that fingertip due to the damage from the bite,” Magill said.
It’s the second incident involving a tiger at a South Florida zoo in 2016. On April 15, a Malayan tiger at the Palm Beach Zoo attacked and killed zookeeper Stacey Konwiser after zoo officials said she broke protocol and went inside the tiger’s enclosure.