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A man who tried feeding and petting a tiger at a Florida zoo found himself in a dire situation, according to Naples Daily News.
The incident reportedly went down Wednesday (December 29) after hours at Naples Zoo in Fort Myers. The Collier County Sheriff's Office says a man in his 20s entered an unauthorized area near the enclosure of Eko, a Malayan tiger.
Deputies added that he worked for a third-party cleaning service responsible for tending to restrooms and the gift shop but not animal enclosures. Initial reports claim the man was petting or feeding the animal before sticking his hand through the fencing. That's when Eko attacked.
Authorities say the predator grabbed the man's arm and pulled it into the enclosure. Deputies responded around 6:30 p.m. to the zoo's Caribbean Gardens. One deputy reportedly kicked the fence to get the tiger to release the man, but when that didn't work, he shot the animal, according to the sheriff's office.
Eko retreated into the enclosure after he was shot. The man was left seriously injured and rushed to a local hospital, deputies say.
A Naples Zoo spokesperson confirmed Eko later died. He was the zoo's only tiger. The big cat came from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle last year, according to reporters.
Following the incident, Twitter users flooded a Tuesday (December 28) post from the zoo, which shows Eko licking his face. People left their condolences and outrage over the tiger's death. At some point, the reply section on the post was locked.
According to the zoo's website, Malayan tigers are critically endangered species with less than 200 left in the wild.