Exhibits are safe at the Oklahoma City Zoo, officials assured the public Wednesday, one day after a tiger killed a visitor at the San Francisco Zoo.

"First and foremost, human safety is the No. 1 top priority," said Bert Castro, director of the Oklahoma City Zoo. "Although we're dealing with endangered species, (visitor safety) has to be the top priority."

A 300-pound Siberian female tiger escaped its exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday and attacked three men, killing one. Police shot and killed the tiger as it mauled one of the men. Investigators are working to figure out how the tiger escaped its exhibit, which is surrounded by a moat.

The attack is the first time a visitor has died because of an animal escape in an accredited zoo, according to a statement released on the Web site of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the national accrediting agency for zoos.

The Oklahoma City Zoo is home to two tigers: a male named Raya and a female named Suriya. Both are Sumatran tigers, a smaller species than the Siberian tiger that escaped in San Francisco.

The Oklahoma City Zoo's tiger exhibit in Cat Forest is enclosed with special mesh made of a steel and fabric combination, Castro said. The mesh, designed specifically to hold large animals like tigers, extends about 22 feet high in the Cat Forest exhibit. A low-voltage hot wire circles the area, he said. A guardrail keeps visitors 5 feet away from the exhibit.

In the lion exhibit, and in other areas, onlookers are separated from the animals by panes of specialty glass, Castro said.

"It's a very, very thick type of glass," he said.

"It's made in such a way that it can take a tremendous hit to the glass and there's no way the animal can get out. ... You want to have those special viewing points, and you always want to ensure the animals can't get to the public."

Human error is more likely to lead to an animal escape than a design flaw in the exhibit, Castro said.

Castro said during his six years at the zoo, an escaped animal has never been put down.

The last time a dangerous animal escaped its exhibit at the zoo was in 2003, zoo spokeswoman Tara Henson said. A storm caused a small branch to fall over the cement trench around the Great EscApe exhibit, allowing a young female gorilla to climb out.

"She was just small enough and just smart enough," Henson said. The animal wandered around for less than four minutes before making eye contact with a uniformed zoo worker and then scampering back into her area.

Oklahoma City Zoo workers practice safety drills about twice a month, Castro said. Scenarios range from snake bites to tornadoes.

If a dangerous animal escapes, zoo workers can arrive at the scene in about two minutes, Castro said. Security guards close off all entrances and other staff members move visitors into secured buildings. Veterinarians and firearms teams respond to the scene.

"We would hope that we'd get to immobilize the animal," he said, "but we do have people trained to handle large firearms."

"They're not domesticated"

From the reports Castro has heard, he said shooting the rogue tiger in California was the best option.

"Most of the animals, even if they're captive-bred, they're not domesticated animals," Castro said. "They're wild animals and can be unpredictable at times."

Large carnivores, like tigers, are athletic and agile, Castro said, "They can impose a lot of damage."

About 180 tigers are kept in accredited zoos nationwide, said Steven Feldman, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Castro and other zoo staff members have been following the news of the San Francisco attack as investigators piece together the reason for the escape.

"They've got a great staff of people there and a wonderful zoo director," he said, "and time will tell as to exactly what happened."

Source: Carrie Coppernoll, The Oklahoman
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