Woman breaks into enclosure to taunt tiger at NJ zoo

🐯 Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton is home to two Bengal tigers

🐯 A woman was seen taunting a tiger that snapped at her

🐯 The bite of a tiger can have a force of over 1,000 pounds per square inch

BRIDGETON — Police are looking for a woman captured on video almost being bitten by a tiger after she climbed a fence and stuck her hand inside its cage.

The woman climbed a fence outside an enclosure housing Rishi and Mahesha, the Cohanzick Zoo's two Bengal tigers, according to Bridgeton police. Video posted by Bridgeton police shows the woman sticking her fingers through a second chain link fence as one of the tigers paces in front of her.

The tiger suddenly rears up at the woman, who steps back from the cage. She walks away and climbs back over the fence while the tiger continues to pace. Bridgeton police Chief Michael Gaimari said the tiger "snapped" at the woman.

Gaimari said Wednesday morning that no one has sought treatment at the nearest hospital for a tiger bite. He said it is the first time in his 36 years with the department someone got close to the animals like this.

"We're just trying to let people know that it's a dangerous game to be playing if that's what they're trying to do, to get closer," Gaimari said. "We haven't really had anything at the zoo. It's been relatively incident-free."

ALSO READ: Cape May County's Two Mile Bridge reopens earlier than expected

Don't climb the fences at the Cohanzick Zoo

A sign is attached to a fence about city ordinance 247-C which prohibits climbing fences in the zoo. The penalty for violators is not clear.

According to the zoo website Rishi and Mahesha weigh nearly 500 pounds each. They have a bite of over 1,000 pounds per square inch with sharp teeth that are over 4 inches long.

The Cohanzick Zoo says it is New Jersey's first zoo and opened in 1934. The zoo in Bridgton's city park is run by Bridgeton's Department of Recreation and Public Affairs and is home to over 100 different mammals, birds, and reptiles.

ALSO READ: NJ residents opposing power cables: don't make us guinea pigs

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom