An animal park employee in central Oklahoma was injured after a tiger slashed her left arm when she introduced her arm into the tiger's cage.
According to website Publinews, the incident happened when the employee of the Gerald Wayne Interactive Zoological Park in Wynnewood, whose name has not been revealed to the media, "violated security protocols".
According to Joe Schreibvogel, president of the park, the employee "was wearing a big feathered coat which got stuck in the cage and did not allow her to take her hand out fast enough before the tiger slashed her and opened a four inch gash on her left arm".
First reports released to the press point out that the employee's arm was severely injured by the attack, but fortunately there was no need to amputate it, after the woman was put under surgery on the afternoon of last Saturday in an Oklahoma City hospital.
According to El Nuevo Herald, the park's president revealed that the zoo has strict rules regarding introducing any body part to the wild animal housings in the zoo.
"She managed to get her arm out herself. The tiger didn't bite her. The tiger was in its cage, and she violated its space by introducing her arm into the space", Schreibvogel said, quoted by the same source.
Although the injured woman's identity has not been yet revealed, Joe Schreibvogel said that she is just over 20 years old.
"In fact, she's the feline supervisor. But when you work with them every day, you let your guard down and think they're pets, that they're like dogs. No, they're not", said the president of the park.
The tiger that attacked the employee is 14 years old and has lived in the park since it was rescued, which is why park authorities dismissed the idea of sacrificing it after the incident, accord to El Nuevo Herald.
"It weighs close to 181.44 kilograms, but it never showed any signs of aggression", Schreibvogel concluded.