Zoo beefs up safety steps

THE Singapore Zoo has stepped up patrols around animal enclosures and will take extra security measures after a cleaner was killed by two white tigers on Thursday afternoon.

It will be installing warning activation buttons for public to push in an emergency, and asking its zookeepers and staff to report erratic and abnormal behaviour in animals, as well as staff and visitors.

These extra measures were taken a day after a Malaysian contract worker was mauled to death by the big cats after he jumped into the tiger enclosure, watched by a horrified crowd.

The Singapore Zoo, which is investigating the incident, said it is committed to ensuring the safety and well being of all visitors, employees and the animals.

The 32-year-old cleaner from Sarawak, Mr Nordin Montong, had behaved erratically shortly before the tiger attack and was seen shouting and flinging items about. He later 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 a rocky ledge near where three white tigers were and began provoking them by swinging the broom.

One of the tigers then swiped at Mr Nordin, to the horror of the gawking, petrified crowd at the enclosure. Some had thought it was part of the zoo show, until the huge cats started sinking their teeth into the back of the cleaner's neck and tossing him around repeatedly like a ragdoll.

They mauled him with their huge paws for a good two minutes, as the crowd screamed with fright.

Blood could be seen oozing from Mr Nordin's back. The cleaner struggled and thrashed his legs about and became still about five minutes later.

More than a dozen zoo keepers who came to Mr Nordin's rescue and managed to distract the big cats and shoo them back into their den, were given two-hour counselling by a psychiatrist later on Thursday to help them overcome the trauma.

The three white tigers also appeared to be "stressed out" by the incident, said M Biswajit Guha, assistant director of the Zoo on Friday.

"Their ears are perked up and their breathing is quicker than normal," he told The Straits Times.

'We are trying to keep their routine as normal as possible to help settle them.'

The tigers are being kept inside their den, behind the enclosure and away from the curious onlookers hoping to take a look at the scene of Thursday's fatal attack. The tiger are likely to be let into the enclosure on Monday.

Zoo officials said the tigers have never had human contact, at least since they have been in Singapore. They are fed raw meat every day.

As a precautionary measure, the zoo has temporarily closed the White Tiger exhibit.

Meanwhile, the contractor who employed the cleaner said on Friday it will pay for the cleaner's embalming and transportation to send his body back to his hometown in Kuching.

Undertaker Roland Tay who is handling the body, told The Straits Times he would donate the payment from the contractor to Mr Nordin's family. He said the body would be flown to Sarawak on Saturday afternoon.

Zookeepers interviewed by The Straits Times on Friday said Mr Nordin looked troubled on Thursday morning and was not his "normal friendly" self.

Mr Hamzah Isa, 24, a keeper who has worked in the Mandai zoo for nearly three years, said he was shocked when he heard about the tiger attack.

But he said he did not notice any change in the victim's behaviour when he reported for work on Thursday morning.

'He is a quiet man who kept mostly to himself,' he said.

A fellow cleaner, Mr Clement Ijau, 27, also from Sarawak, who lives in the same workers' quarters as Mr Nordin in Serangoon, said he looked upset early on Thursday and ignored the other workers in the quarters. He said Mr Nordin, said to be unmarried, had spoken about missing his parents back home.

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