Killer white tigers at Singapore Zoo

This is the first fatality at the Singapore Zoo since it open its door to the public in 1973. A cleaner at the Singapore Zoo who jumped into the white tiger enclosure yesterday was killed by the animals as a horrified crowd looked on helplessly.

Malaysian Nordin Montong, 32, was set upon by two of the three big cats in the enclosure at around noon. Look like the white tigers were provoked and Nordin may not be in his right frame of mind. The police are not saying anything yet but it certainly look like a suicide act.





According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nordin, who was seen shouting and flinging items about shortly before the incident, vaulted a low wall and landed in a moat in the enclosure, four metres below.

Carrying a yellow pail and a broom, he then crossed the 1.75m-deep moat, walked up to a rocky ledge near where the animals were and began agitating them by swinging the broom.

As two of the tigers approached him, he covered his head with the pail, lay down on the ground, and curled himself into a foetal position, two eyewitnesses, an Australian couple, told police. Their identities were withheld pending investigations.

In a flash, two of the extremely rare white tigers were on him. One took a swipe at him with its paw - which is about the size of a softball glove - and he began screaming in pain, said another eyewitness, Dutch tourist W. R. de Boer.

He said many in the crowd of 30 or so onlookers at the enclosure initially thought the intrusion was part of a show.

But when Mr Nordin began screaming, they reacted with horror.

'Some were screaming: 'Go away' to the tigers and others were shouting to scare the tigers,' he said.

The cries alerted zoo staff, and the alarm was raised.

About 20 keepers arrived within minutes. Some tried to prevent the attack from continuing by throwing brooms and dustbin covers, while the rest ushered the shocked onlookers away.

Also deployed were two zookeepers armed with rifles and live ammunition, but these were not used, said the zoo's assistant director of zoology, Mr Biswajit Guha.

Despite the efforts of the keepers, one tiger continued attacking Mr Nordin for several minutes, the zoo said in a statement yesterday.

It only relented after a door to the tigers' feeding area was opened. The animals retreated to it, leaving the cleaner motionless on the ground.

Once the tigers were in the feeding area, the door separating it from the rest of the enclosure was closed, and keepers were able to reach the cleaner.

It was too late, however. Mr Nordin, who hails from Sarawak, had been bitten on the neck and suffered a fractured skull. He died before police arrived.

His colleagues later told zoo staff that the contract worker, who had been working at the zoo for about 41/2 months, had been behaving strangely minutes before the incident.

He had thrown his cutters and meal coupons about before telling them in Malay: 'Goodbye, you won't be seeing me again.'

He then rode off on his bicycle.

The Australian tourists also said they saw him shouting and throwing some things as he walked by the crocodile exhibit, just 10 minutes from the tiger enclosure.

The keeper suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung, and was in hospital for close to two months before he eventually recovered.

The zoo, which had to stop the tram ride and prevent visitors from entering during the incident, said yesterday that it would close the white tiger exhibit temporarily as a precautionary measure. It did not say how long the closure would last.

It said the tigers, which are nine years old and were brought in from Sumatra in 2001, would not be put down as they had acted naturally.

UPDATES:
* Nov 20, 2008: Singapore Zoo White Tigers mauling video
* Nov 17, 2008: Of Nordin Montong, Singapore Zoo and killer white tigers

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From The Star

Mauled to death by white tigers

SINGAPORE: A Malaysian worker from Sarawak died after he was mauled by tigers at the Singapore Zoo in Mandai Road yesterday.

Visitors watched in horror as three white tigers pounced on Nordin Montong, 32, who was said to have entered the enclosure where the tigers were kept. Zoo workers rushed to rescue him by distracting the tigers.

A Singapore police spokesman, who confirmend the incident when contacted by Bernama, said the man was injured on the neck and body.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at 12.45pm.

Singapore Zoo assistant director of zoology Biswajit Guha said the victim’s family had been notified.

He said zoo officials had sent condolences to the family and would provide any assistance they needed.

Biswajit also said zoo authorities had commenced investigations into “this isolated incident”.

As a precautionary measure, the zoo authorities had temporarily closed the white tiger exhibit, he added.

Recounting the incident, he said the victim, a contract worker, was attacked by three white tigers after he allegedly jumped into the moat at the white tiger exhibit.

The ensuing commotion attracted the attention of a keeper who was nearby.

Other keepers went to the exhibit to distract the tigers in a bid to rescue the worker.

The keepers managed to rescue the worker and brought him out of the exhibit, Biswajit said.

While waiting for the ambulance, the zoo veterinarians attended to him but Nordin had succumbed to his wounds, he added.