Zookeeper mauled to death by tiger in front of shocked visitors after forgetting to lock cage door during feeding time

Zoo keeper was placing food in enclosure when Siberian tiger attacked

By Anna Edwards
PUBLISHED: 05:57 EST, 20 September 2013 | UPDATED: 08:13 EST, 20 September 2013

A zoo keeper died from a single bite to the throat after he forgot to lock a door and a tiger pounced on him.
The experienced 56-year-old keeper was laying food in the outside area of the tiger compound in a Munster zoo, Germany, when the predator crept up behind him.
The animal sunk its teeth into the keeper's throat, killing the employee instantly.

Pounced: Siberian tiger Rasputin killed his keeper with a single bite to the throat after a door was left unlocked

The keeper, named as Martin H, was laying out food for the tigers in their outdoor enclosure while they were inside

It is thought that the door between the two enclosures hadn't been secured properly and Siberian tiger Rasputin was able to sneak up behind the man and attack him from behind

The keeper, known only as Martin. H, was carrying out a routine feed when the tragic accident happened in front of visitors.

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He had failed to lock the inside enclosure door properly, which allowed the Siberian tiger to get to him.
An investigation is inspecting the circumstances around the death, but the strongest theory is that the death occurred because of human error.
Zoo chief Jörg Adler said despite help being immediately called for, there was nothing emergency services could do for the keeper.

Zoo chief Jörg Adler said despite help being immediately called for, there was nothing emergency services could do

The tragic death is being investigated, but one theory is that it was a basic human error that caused it

He said: 'An encounter like that with a tiger isn't something that can be survived,' The Local reported.
'We can install only so much technology and so many alarms – when it comes down to it, it's the keeper who decides,' he added.
The Munster zoo director said the keeper loved his animals, 9News MSN reported. The Siberian tiger, called Rasputin, will not be killed.
The death follows another incident of a tiger killing a zookeeper earlier this year.
In May, a British woman was mauled by a tiger in a staff area of the enclosure that animals should not have had access to.
Sarah McClay, 24, died when she was mauled by a Sumatran tiger at South Lakes Wild Animal Park, in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria.
Sarah was located in the inner corridor of the enclosure, an area that tigers should not have access to as the sliding doors to the inner tiger pens should have been bolted shut.
Instead, a tiger was able to drag her from the corridor, through the left pen and out to the outside area were she was killed.

Tigers

Tigers

  The tiger is the largest cat in the world. It has unusually strong big teeth. Its canines are the longest of all living cats. Tigers use their large powerful heads and forelimbs to bring down prey. It is the third largest predator in the world on land. Only polar bears and brown bears are bigger. The Siberian tiger the living in the Russian Far East and Manchurian is the largest. It is also one of the biggest cats that has ever lived base on the fossil record. Large males can weigh more than 600 pounds and reach a length of more than 10 feet. The smallest is the Sumatran tiger about half as large. Tigers once lived from the forest of central Asia to the jungles and islands of East Asia in a variety of habitats. in just hundred years tigers have lost almost all of their historic range. Some species of tigers have gone extinct because of man. The number of tigers in the wild could be less the 4,000 individuals. 

  

  Tigers live mostly solitary lives on large territorial home ranges large enough to support the game the tiger preys on. They normally live only in their home range and avoid other nearby tigers. However their home ranges can overlap each other and during mating season or when there is abundant prey tigers are found together mating, hunting, or sharing prey. At the same time young adult tiger in search of territories of their own will challenge and sometimes kill older males.

 

  The Tigers hunt mostly at night for large and medium prey. Their strips are camouflage that breaks up their outline and blends them into the background. Water buffalo, large deer, antelope, moose, tapir, camels, Eurasian bison, yaks, wild horses, wild boar, and sloth bears are all large and dangerous animals hard to take down. Even the young of Indian elephants and rhinoceros are not safe. Tigers will prey on even more dangerous large predators such as leopards, pythons, and crocodiles. The smaller prey includes monkeys, peacocks, rabbits, and even fish. Unlike most cats they are excellent swimmers. 

  Tigers hunt alone stalking their prey. They try approaching close enough undetected to leap at the animal knocking it to the ground. Then over power the prey holding it down forelimbs. The tiger uses it powerful jaws to grab a hold of the throat and neck breaking the spinal cord, crushing the windpipe, severing the necks veins and arteries leading to blood lose or strangulation. Tiger’s ambush their prey, overpowers it, and then kills it with their teeth.