11 Year Old Boy Teases Caged Tiger at a ZOO, Tiger Attacks, Boy Loses Arm

An 11 year old boy had to have his entire right arm amputated after he was attacked by a tiger at a local ZOO in Cascavel, in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Prior to teasing the tiger, the boy teased a lion who remained completely tame and ignored the kid. Encouraged, the kid must have thought that since the lion did not hurt him, handling the tiger would be simple and repeatedly stuck his arm in the cage, teasing the tiger with a piece of chicken and trying to pet him. The tiger only put up with this for so long.

The incident occurred on July 30, 2014. There is a protective barrier separating enclosures with animals from the visitor’s walkway, and warning signs warn the public not to step over it. Additional signs prohibit feeding the animals. The boy ignored all these warnings, as did his father who not only allowed him to go all the way to the cage, he even encouraged him to touch the tiger and ignored other visitors who kept telling him to get his kid out of the prohibited zone.

A veterinarian with the Cascavel ZOO said the tiger did not exhibit unusual behavior and advocated against calls to have the animal put down. He said the reason why the tiger attacked was because he’s a wild animal and was being instigated by the boy who acted as a threat.

For the time being, the 3 and a half year old tiger whom they call Hu was transferred to a cage away from the public view where he will remain under observation. The management of the ZOO hopes to put him back on display soon.

The video from the ZOO shows the kid teasing the lion and the tiger and then it shows him after the flesh was stripped off his arm. The juicy bits are blurred:

Video below contains an interview with the kid’s mother who says she’s sorry for the accident but she doesn’t blame the kid’s dad and has forgiven him. Props to Best Gore member Vergne for the video and the translation:

And a gallery of a few pics: