Man Attacks Zoo Worker

Panama City, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) - A man in Florida is behind bars after attacking employees at a zoo, officials said.   

According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, a man entered Zoo World and began acting “erratically”. He was taken into custody after he attacked three employees and two park visitors, the Sheriff’s office said in a press release.  

When law enforcement arrived, Michael Jerome Brown was inside the zoo screaming threats at anyone around him, the sheriff’s office said. Employees told law enforcement that Brown had broken into the zoo and assaulted two visitors before employees interceded. Brown then assaulted the employees.   

After the assault, employees retreated from Brown, concentrating instead on protecting zoo visitors, including a bus load of children. Brown did not attempt to injure any animals or enter any of their cages.  

Once on the scene, deputies interacted with Brown. In response, Brown fought with two deputies, threatened to hurt other and made “unintelligible sounds,” the Sheriff’s office said.   

“Brown’s actions were aggressive and unpredictable, and deputies felt the employees at Zoo World did a remarkable job keeping other patrons safe until deputies arrived,” the Sheriff’s office said in its release.  

Brown was placed in handcuffs and taken to a local medical facility for evaluation. Officials charged him with five counts of battery, two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts of resisting arrest with violence, and counts of resisting arrest without violence, disorderly conduct, and trespass after warning.   

The attack is the latest in injuries to employees in animal facilities.   

In December of last year, a worker was seriously injured by a tiger at a Florida zoo when he put his arm into the animal’s enclosure.   

Officials with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said they were called to the Naples Zoo on December 29 after closing time for an animal attack. When they arrived, they found the animal with the worker’s arm in its mouth, officials said.   

“The first deputy on scene kicked the enclosure and tried to get the tiger to release the man’s arm from its mouth but the deputy was forced to shoot the animal,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.  

Eko, the 8-year-old Malayan tiger, retreated to its enclosure, zoo officials said, where it was sedated and examined. Eko later died of its wounds, the zoo said.   

Officials said the victim was a cleaning worker in his 20 and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Officials said he had put his arm into the animals enclosure when the attack happened.   

In June of last year, a zoo worker was injured while he was working with the warthogs in an off-exhibit holding area, officials said.   

Carla Knapp, the Indianapolis Zoo public relations specialist told USA Today, the employee was alert and awake when they were transported to the hospital. No one from the public saw the incident, she said.   

And in March of last year, a zookeeper in Columbus, Ohio was attacked by a cheetah.   

Officials with the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium said the attack happened in a nonpublic area of the zoo with two staff members were taking Isabelle, a 4-year-old cheetah, for her daily walk.   

According to the zoo, the cheetah was harnessed as she was being leg from the cheetah exhibit in the Heart of Africa area to a behind-the-scenes exercise area. A keeper from the Heart of Africa region approached the cheetah. When she sat calmly and purred, handlers said, they invited the keeper to come closer. When they keeper did, Isabelle crouched down and lunged at the keeper, who normally works with giraffes and other hoofed animals.   

Zoo officials said they believed the attack was triggered by the scent of the other animals on the keeper. The scents caused Isabelle’s natural instincts to attack to kick in, officials said.   

Rapp said the cheetah was “an incredibly well-trained animal,” and that the incident was her first documented attack. She was placed in a 30-day quarantine to ensure she didn’t show any signs of illness before being returned to the Heart of Africa exhibit.   

The employee was treated onsite, and then taken to a local hospital for treatment then released.