Baby Steps: Jungle Island to Re-Open Tiger Exhibit This Weekend
Exhibit to open a week after tiger escape
Two year old Yenitta Barratt is safe and sound in the comfort of her Coral Gables home Sunday, after coming face to face with the 500-pound Bengal tiger named Mahesh at Jungle Island in Miami.
A week after a 700-pound tiger jumped out of an enclosure and into a crowd of people, Jungle Island is expected to display a scaled back version of its tiger exhibit this weekend.
The tiger exhibit had been closed since last Saturday, when Mahesh the tiger scaled a 12-foot high fence while chasing a monkey. Officials said the acrobatic big cat will not be on display this weekend and instead, two 9-month old lion-tiger cubs, called ligers, will be available to the public.
The plan needs the approval of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, but all arrows point to the exhibit being open to the public again.
No one was hurt in Mahesh's escape, but many shaken visitors said they might be staying away from Jungle Island in the foreseeable future.
As for Watson, the escaped white-handed gibbon that officials claim antagonized Mahesh to the point he jumped out of the enclosure, he is still in timeout and not on display.
Before the adult tigers are back in the exhibit, Jungle Island will likely have to add two-to-four feet of fencing to the tiger cage.
