By Jill Fraser
BRISBANE
An investigation into a near fatal attack on a tiger handler at an Australian zoo has revealed that the large feline was deliberately overexcited to produce a more memorable show.
The Workplace Health and Safety found that handler David Styles had purposely traded his khaki uniform for a blue “blanket” and placed surgical shoes over his hands to arouse the tiger’s senses in November last year.
“This stimulates the tiger to investigate and interact with a new ‘entity’ rather than their ‘usual’ handler,” the report disclosed this week.
News Limited reported that Styles, 33, sustained a crushed carotid artery, nicked jugular, paralysis to the left larynx and nerve damage to the left eye when a Bengal Sumatran tiger named Charlie dragged him into a pool during a show.
A horrified audience watched on as “the 114-120kg cat reared on to his hind legs, placing his front paws on the man’s shoulders in a move keepers term ‘taking a hit,’” according to News Limited.
There had been concern the injuries Styles suffered at the Australia Zoo -- run by Terri Irwin, the widow of the Australia’s famous late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin -- might be fatal.
The report stated that Styles confessed to overly exciting the tiger to encourage him “to play rougher than usual.”
At the time of the attack, Styles had been working with tigers for nine years, and neither he nor Australia Zoo blamed the tiger.
Australia Zoo director Wes Mannion had gone on the record saying the tiger had no interest in hurting the trainer.
“It's not the animal's fault, plain and simple,” Mannion said. “It was just over-exuberance on the animal's part.”
Australia Zoo could not be reached for a comment.
Australia Zoo -- originally named the Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park -- was founded in 1970 by the parents of the late conservationist Irwin, who took over the park’s management in 1991.
Irwin, who married U.S. tourist Terri in 1992, passed away when he was hit in the chest by a stingray's barb while snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef on Sept. 4, 2006.
www.aa.com.tr/en
