DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Richard Ball, right, Scott Kim, center, and Earl Yamada work on the Honolulu Zoo's new tiger exhibit. After last month's brief tiger escape, the enclosure is getting extra care.
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Zoo beefing up its tiger exhibit
Improvements are intended to prevent another escape
Contractors at the Honolulu Zoo are finishing work on an extended enclosure for the tiger exhibit, intended to prevent another escape like last month's brief extramural stroll by 245-pound Berani.
Contractors of Okada Trucking Co. are expected to complete the enclosure by the middle of next week, Sidney Quintal, director of the city Department of Enterprise Services, said yesterday as he showed off the exhibit.
On Feb. 21 at about 8:15 a.m., before the zoo opened, Berani, a male Sumatran tiger, strolled freely from the new tiger exhibit to the holding area after two gates at the exhibit were left unsecured by a zoo keeper.
A volunteer, who was cleaning one of the feeding rooms in the holding area, saw the tiger pass by her. The volunteer closed the gate and alerted a zoo worker.
The brief escape was resolved before the zoo opened at 9 a.m.
Officials said the tiger was loose for less than five minutes in an open area used by zoo staff and surrounded by only a 4-foot fence. Berani could have jumped that fence into public areas that include a playground several yards away.
The new extended enclosure, about 8 feet high and 35 feet long, encases the path that Berani took.
In addition, the zoo added new hinges and pressure-actuated devices to gates that will "automatically lock when the door shuts," Quintal said.
Cost of the extended enclosure and additional security measures is estimated at $50,000, which comes from the city's operating funds.
Zoo officials are conducting a review of security and procedures at all exhibits holding animals that can injure humans, Quintal said. He noted that he plans to bring up the heavy-duty devices to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums in hopes that they will be mandated to prevent a similar breach at any zoo in the United States.
Appropriate disciplinary action was taken against the zoo keeper, said Quintal, who declined to elaborate, citing the employee's privacy. "He's definitely still employed at the Honolulu Zoo. He'll still be working in the tiger habitat."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Richard Ball, mammal specialist for the Honolulu Zoo, observed yesterday the gate that had been left unlocked on Feb. 21, allowing a 245-pound Sumatran tiger to take a prohibited stroll from the zoo's tiger exhibit. To prevent a tiger from escaping again, contractors are finishing up improvements on the exhibit, including an extended enclosure and automatically closing gates.
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