Updates on tiger attack at Singapore zoo

Tigers stressed by the incident
Straits Times 15 Nov 08;

THE two white tigers involved in Thursday's attack on a cleaner are exhibiting symptoms of stress.

Normally relaxed and languid, they are now on constant alert, zoo officials said yesterday. Their ears are pricked up, and they are breathing heavily.

Only Winnie and Jippie, the two female cats which carried out the attack, are showing these symptoms.

The other white tiger in the enclosure, Omar, a male, showed no interest in the cleaner, Mr Nordin Montong, 32, and stayed well away from him.

Omar is behaving normally.

The two other cats are stressed out because of the commotion that occurred during the attack, said the zoo's assistant director Biswajit Guha.

Onlookers screamed and keepers flung objects at the animals to try to distract them on Thursday.

The cats' heightened senses were thus thrown off-kilter, Mr Guha said, adding that they were probably traumatised because they had not experienced anything like it before.

It was also the first time they had come into close contact with a human being since they arrived in Singapore from Indonesia seven years ago, Mr Guha said, and their sense of smell was probably affected.

Even during feeding and cleaning, keepers stay well clear of the big cats.

When meal times roll around, a keeper lures the cats into a holding area behind the exhibit, places about 5kg of raw meat in the enclosure, then leaves it before letting the cats back in.

Mr Guha said: 'The rule is that no one is allowed to enter an enclosure in the presence of a potentially dangerous animal.

'All staff members know this.'

Over the next few days, zoo officials will try and calm the cats down by sticking to their usual routine.

This includes checks by keepers in the mornings to make sure the tigers' bodily functions are working well, raw meat feeding sessions once daily and 'enrichment classes' three times a week.

These classes involve hurling a fibreglass ball full of raw meat into the enclosure to encourage the tigers to exercise and to stimulate their brain activity.

The white tiger exhibit is currently closed, and the animals have been restricted to the den area.

If all goes well, the cats will be let out again on Monday, and the exhibit will be reopened, said Mr Guha.

He added that the tigers were not overly aggressive, and had merely shown behaviour that comes naturally to big cats.

In fact, he said, the zoo's tigers are conditioned to the presence of human beings and are likely to be less aggressive around them than their cousins in the wild.

He added: 'It is only when they feel threatened, feel their territory is intruded upon, or view an object as potential prey that they attack. Usually, they would keep away.'

JESSICA LIM

Cleaner's family in shock
He sounded fine when he called home on Wednesday, says sister
Diana Othman & Kimberly Spykerman, Straits Times 15 Nov 08;

SINCE he arrived in Singapore in June, Mr Nordin Montong had called his mother three or four times a day.

He would ask her how the family was and if she had eaten. Little things, just to chat.

It was the same in his last call to her on Wednesday, the night before the 32-year-old cleaner from Sarawak climbed into a tiger enclosure at the Singapore Zoo and was mauled to death after he seemingly baited the big cats.

His family in Kuching is still reeling from the news.

'When we first heard the news, we were shocked and panicked as the last we heard from him, he was healthy and fine,' said his older sister, Madam Nora Montong, 38. 'We did not sense anything was wrong or that he had any problems.'

His 53-year-old mother had become worried on Thursday when her second of six children did not call her as usual.

Said Madam Nora: 'She has been crying now whenever she thinks about him.'

Unable to afford the flight to Singapore, they are awaiting his body, which will be flown home today.

But though his family had no inkling of the turmoil in his mind, his roommates and fellow workers noticed that he was not behaving quite like himself.

Mr Fabian Anak, 26, his colleague of two months who shared a Serangoon apartment with him and other workers, said that the usually jovial man was sombre on Thursday.

He said: 'He hadn't been able to sleep till 3am. He just sat in a chair.'

Another cleaner, Mr Clement Ijau, who lived next door, noticed that Mr Nordin seemed dazed and ignored the people around him.

Fifteen minutes before he went into the enclosure, he reportedly told colleagues they would not be seeing him again.

If he had problems, no one knew. Another colleague, Mr Mohd Rafiq Nasirin, said Mr Nordin was a quiet man who kept matters to himself.

The cleaner from Sarawak had worked at a hotel when he first arrived but left shortly after for a job at the zoo.

Mr Mohd Rafiq said that Mr Nordin had wanted to apply for a transfer to the Night Safari.

According to Madam Nora, her brother had planned to return home in February next year after he had saved enough cash to marry and start a family.

At the mortuary yesterday, Mr Nordin's body - wrapped in a simple white sheet - was received by his employer, Sun City Maintenance, which will bear all costs of embalming and transportation.

Undertaker Roland Tay, 51, will donate his payment of $3,000 to Mr Nordin's family.

They are now bereft of a son and brother as well as any clues which might have accounted for his death.

Madam Nora said: 'We are as confused as everyone. We were not able to be there with him so we could not fathom what he was going through.

'All we can do now is wait for his body to return to Kuching so we can see him again before we bury him.'

Zoo to beef up safety measures
Three steps being considered: alarm buttons, more patrols and CCTV cameras
Jessica Lim, Straits Times 15 Nov 08;

THE Singapore Zoo will be rolling out a series of new security measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident on Thursday, in which a cleaner who jumped into the white tiger enclosure was killed by the big cats.

Three measures are being discussed: Installing alarms in glass housings that the public can set off, deploying more patrols, and setting up closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras near the exhibits of potentially dangerous animals.

The review of existing procedures was prompted by the death of cleaner Nordin Montong, 32, who managed to get into the enclosure and then provoked the white tigers into attacking him.

If implemented, the new measures aim to ensure a quicker response to similar emergencies.

In Thursday's incident, zoo staff were alerted to Mr Nordin's intrusion when visitors began screaming. They then raised an alarm over walkie-talkies to activate staff to the tiger enclosure. Though about 20 keepers arrived within minutes, they could not prevent the fatal attack.

Yesterday, zoo officials said current measures are sufficient to prevent visitors from getting into serious trouble.

At the white tiger enclosure, for example, thick wooden railings and a plant-bed overhang minimise the chances of a visitor falling into trouble.

The zoo's assistant director, Mr Biswajit Guha, 40, said: 'Even if there is a fall, if the person tries to avoid the tigers, we are confident that we can save him in time.'

What happened on Thursday, he said, was 'an extraordinary situation'.

Another official, Ms Isabel Cheng, the attraction's sales, marketing and communications director, echoed this.

'We cannot account for someone who intentionally scales the railing,' she said.

'We do what we can for careless visitors, but it will be difficult for us to be 100 per cent secure for someone who wants to break into the exhibit.'

She added that there are about 80 staff members patrolling the zoo premises daily, as well as 16 licensed shooters on hand in case of an emergency.

Eight bright green safety boxes full of tools - a gong, a loudhailer, clay balls and a life-preserver ring, among others - are also located across the zoo's grounds.

Keepers hurled some of these items at the white tigers on Thursday in an attempt to distract them from Mr Nordin, with little effect.

Meanwhile, the tragedy has not had an effect on the zoo's popularity.

There was an increase in the number of visitors yesterday. The zoo did not pinpoint the reasons for the rise, but one reason could have been a new exhibit - the 3ha RainForest KidzWorld children's discovery area, which was officially opened yesterday by Temasek Holdings chief executive officer Ho Ching.

Several visitors interviewed by The Straits Times said morbid curiosity was not the reason they were at the zoo.

Some, however, were disappointed that the white tiger enclosure was closed.

Driver Zailani Abdullah, 46, said the extremely rare cats were the main reason he had taken a day's leave to take his two children and wife to the zoo.

He said: 'The tigers are really special with their blue eyes, and my son was looking forward to it.'

Visitors were also unfazed by the attack. Chef Raymond Cheong, who was visiting with his two daughters and niece, said the incident was 'tragic, but a one-off thing'.

Singapore Zoo assures visitors that white tiger exhibit is safe
S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 14 Nov 08;

It held a news conference on Friday to clear any doubts even as it opened its latest S$12 million attraction called the Rainforest Kidzworld.

Visitors streamed in to view the attraction, which opened in time for the school holidays.

Executive director and CEO of Temasek Holdings, Ms Ho Ching, who launched the new attraction, said: "The zoo has deepened its own knowledge and expertise through the years.

"I have full respect for the team at the WildLife Reserves for their hard work, passion and constant care. It is amazing how their dedication and imagination have created a natural and safe wildlife habitat only half an hour away from the city lights."

Meanwhile, the chairperson of Wildlife Reserves - which owns the zoo - took the opportunity to speak about Thursday's incident at the white tiger enclosure.

Claire Chiang, non-executive chairman, Wildlife Reserves, said: "Let me take a few minutes to address the unfortunate incident at the white tiger exhibit yesterday. Our sympathies and condolences go to Mr Nordin Bin Montong's family.

"I would like to reassure all visitors that the white tiger exhibit is very safe and is as safe as any part of the zoo. The safety measures we have implemented exceed the standards recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

"AZA is the internationally recognised organisation that accredits only institutions that have achieved rigorous standards for animal care, education, wildlife conservation and science."

Visitors, too, seemed to agree that the white tiger exhibit does not pose any danger.

Aaron Tan, a visitor, said: "The enclosure is actually quite safe as long as you don't go... into the enclosure itself. So I can still bring my kid here."

At a news conference later, zoo officials addressed other concerns raised, including the five-minute response time it took the sharpshooters to reach the scene.

Biswajit Guha, assistant director, Singapore Zoo, said: "The five-minute situation is essentially sufficient to go to a hotspot in the case of an animal escape. This was an extraordinary situation whereby someone had actually jumped in.

"Even if it had been a fall and the person was trying very hard to avoid the tigers and had gone to the deep end, we are quite confident he would have been able to move in, in time."

He added that firing tranquilisers would not have saved the cleaner as it could have further provoked the animals.

He added: "Tranquilisers don't work instantaneously. So it will take about five minutes before having an impact on the animal. And to have such a sharp impact coming into contact with an animal, it could provoke the animal more and there might be a more drastic reaction."

Meanwhile, the Singapore Zoo said it will not be stationing armed officers at the enclosures which are deemed dangerous. But it will definitely be increasing its patrols by the zoo's keepers and operational staff.

Staff who witnessed the incident or need counselling will also be taken care of.

The zoo hopes to re-open the white tiger attraction within the next few days. - CNA/vm

'Closed', but still they came
Foreign and local visitors flock to closed white tiger exhibit
Hedy Khoo, The New Paper 16 Nov 08;

AMID a backdrop of lush green tranquillity, illuminated by sunlight streaming through the leaves of the overhanging trees, the enclosure was picture perfect.

Except that its star inhabitants - the three white tigers - were nowhere in sight.

A red sign hanging on a wooden gate, which barred access to the viewing gallery of the white tiger enclosure, bore the words 'Exhibit closed. Any inconvenience is regretted'.

It was a stark contrast to the scene only the day before in which horrified visitors screamed and watched helplessly from the viewing gallery as a cleaner who had jumped into the enclosure was mauled to death by the tigers.

The temporary closure of the exhibit was for investigation purposes and to allow the tigers to settle down following the incident, zoo officials said.

But that did not stop local and foreign visitors from stopping by the enclosure of one of the Singapore Zoo's key attractions yesterday.

Some were there hoping to view the extremely rare tigers, others out of curiosity to see for themselves where the incident had taken place. A number were disappointed tourists who were there specifically to see the white tigers.

Though the viewing gallery was closed, the enclosure area was still clearly visible from the sides.

Polytechnic student Gillian Chan, 19, wanted to check how the tigers, her favourite zoo exhibit, were doing after she heard about the incident.

'I am very concerned about the tigers and I hope they won't be put to sleep because it wasn't their fault,' Miss Chan, who visits the zoo almost yearly to see the white tigers, said.

Miss Jolin Chew, 25, a sales co-ordinator, and her friend, Miss Ng Li Xin, 25, a share registrar, had taken leave to visit the zoo.

They had planned their visit a few weeks before and yesterday's incident did not put them off. They headed for the white tiger exhibit first, hoping to see them.

Disappointed

Miss Ng said: 'I don't think the zoo is unsafe just because of the incident as the man jumped into the enclosure on his own.'

One Malaysian family was disappointed.

Mr Lee Hon Leong, 38, who arrived in Singapore with his family yesterday, said: 'We had come all the way from Kuala Lumpur because the white tigers are very rare.'

His crestfallen daughter, 13, and son, 9, had been excited about seeing the tigers.

'Perhaps we will drop by again after six months so that we can see the tigers,' Mr Lee said.

Several tourists from Australia were also disappointed at the closure.

Mrs Leanne Stummer, 40, and her husband were at the zoo for the first time with the main purpose of viewing the tigers because of their rarity.

'We read online that it was one of the main attractions of the zoo here and wanted to see them,' she said.

Although disappointed, she was sympathetic about the tragedy.

'People need to remember that these are wild animals,' she added.

Mr Mike Barnett, 57, and his wife, while disappointed, also understood why the enclosure had to be closed.

'The tigers need time and quiet to settle down after what happened,' he said.

A woman was seen gesturing and discussing in Mandarin with friends how the cleaner could have climbed into the enclosure. She declined to be interviewed.

The zoo opened the Rainforest Kidzworld, a new exhibit targeted at children, yesterday afternoon.

Ms Isabel Cheng, director of sales, marketing and communications, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said it was not possible to reschedule the event at such late notice.

She said that Thursday's incident was an isolated case.

'The safety of our visitors and employees were not compromised, thus we decided to proceed with the grand opening,' she added.

Groups of kindergarten children trooped past the white tiger enclosure led by their teachers on their way to the Rainforest Kidzworld. Some stopped to look before moving on.

Teacher Chew May Ling, 31, said: 'We had hoped the children could see the tigers, but they are too young to know what happened. We are just here for the opening of Kidzworld.'

Tigers would have been shot if...
The New Paper 16 Nov 08;
CLEANER Nordin Montong's fatal mauling by two white tigers at the Singapore Zoo raised questions about safety. Yesterday, Mr Biswajit Guha, the zoo's assisant director of zoology, and Ms Isabel Cheng, the director of sales, marketing and communications of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, addressed such concerns. ARUL JOHN reports

Mr Biswajit Guha: The shooters' weapons are stored in an armoury, and the shooters have to get the weapons and then go to the scene (the location of the armoury could not be disclosed for security reasons).
16 November 2008

Q: Could the Zoo's licensed shooters have arrived sooner?

Mr Biswajit Guha: The shooters' weapons are stored in an armoury, and the shooters have to get the weapons and then go to the scene (the location of the armoury could not be disclosed for security reasons).

After collecting their weapons, the shooters arrived at the white tiger exhibit within five minutes.

But the tigers were already back in their dens by the time the shooters arrived.

If the tigers could not be lured back to their dens by then, the shooters would have shot and killed the animals.

Q: How far is the armoury from the white tiger enclosure?

Mr Guha: It is slightly less than 800m away. It can be reached within three minutes by running or buggy.

Q: What items are placed in the armoury?

Mr Guha: (Each armoury) contains our weapons and live rounds. The weapons are double-barrelled shotguns and 0.375calibre rifles.

Q: How many licensed shooters does the Zoo have and where are they positioned?

Mr Guha: We have a pool of 16licensed shooters between the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.

As a standard operating procedure (SOP), upon collection of their arms, the designated officers will go to the front ofthe exhibit where the incident is takingplace.

Q: How many shooters were on duty and where were they positioned?

Mr Guha: At this time, we are not able to check how many out of our 16 licensed shooters were working on 13 Nov. However, on any working day, a minimum of four licensed shooters are on duty.

On 13 Nov, two licensed shooters were activated to collect their weapons. They then positioned themselves at the front of the white tiger exhibit.

Q: Witnesses said that they saw the keepers mainly throwing umbrellas and using a long pole to distract the tigers on Thursday. Could they have been better equipped?

Mr Guha: The keepers also used items from a nearby safety box to distract the tigers. All of the items and more were used to distract the tigets.

These included fire extinguishers, extensible poles, cymbals, loud hailers and clay balls.

Q: Can you tell us your standard operating procedures for handling the various dangerous animals, should a similar incident occur?

Mr Guha: These are confidential internal documents which we are unable to share with external parties.

Q: What happens to the tigers now?

Mr Guha: They are still being looked after and maintained by the Zoo. We have no plans to put them down.

The keepers have been told to keep an eye on them and we want to give them time to recover from the event.

But we are not having extra security measures for the tigers. We think that the white tiger exhibit should be back in action within less than a week.

The tigers are not dangerous to humans. They would not attack humans unless they were taunted, or they thought the humans were prey

Q: Did Mr Nordin have any history of mental illness?

Mr Guha: As far as we know, he was all right when he reported for work on Thursday morning. He was hardworking and there was no indication that he had any mental problems when he was working in the Zoo.

Q: Will the Zoo be reviewing the safety features in the white tiger exhibit and its other dangerous animal enclosures?

Mr Guha: We are looking into the possibility of installing alarm buttons, like those activated by pressing or breaking a glass, near the enclosures so that visitors and/or keepers can raise an alarm more quickly if something happens at these places.

We will increase the frequency of patrols by our keepers and ground staff, especially during lunch time.

The Zoo has 50 keepers and 30 ground staff walking or cycling around its premises daily.

Ms Cheng: The white tiger exhibit is very safe. We have safety features to guard against someone who accidentally falls in the enclosure, like a planter bed below the railing and cable wires that the person can roll onto to prevent him falling into the moat.

In addition, fences on the left and right wings of the exhibit measure 8.5m, inclusive of the water moat wall. The exhibit is permanently surrounded by a water moat 10m wide from the shore to the overhang at the visitors' bridge, and 8.5m from the rock platform to the overhang at the visitors' bridge.

At its deepest, the water is 1.75m deep in the moat.

These enclosure measurements conform to international safety guidelines imposed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Our lion and polar bear exhibits are also well-protected. But we cannot completely secure against someone who intentionally enters the enclosure.

The incident on Thursday was such a case.

WHY?
Family says he planned to marry next year and talked about holiday in morning call to home
Teh Jen Lee and Tay Shi'an, The New Paper 16 Nov 08;

WITHIN a mere five hours, he snapped. But the trigger that caused Malaysian cleaner Nordin Montong to leap into a tigers' den on Thursday is still elusive.

We now know that he had a pleasant conversation with his family at 7am that fateful day. His sister said he gave no inkling of irrational behaviour or distress.

He had called his mother in Sarawak at 7am, as was his daily routine.

Mr Nordin, the second of six children and the eldest son, would call his family up to four times a day.

On Thursday, he spoke about wanting to return to Sarawak for a holiday in February. And he talked about the weather.

His 52-year-old mother did not suspect anything was amiss. She hung up soon after, thinking that he would call to speak to her again at lunch time.

But that call never came.

At 12.15pm, Mr Nordin, a contract cleaner at the Singapore Zoo, was mauled by two of the three white tigers in their enclosure.

He suffered a fractured skull and multiple bite wounds to his neck, and died soon after.

Zookeepers said Mr Nordin had appeared distressed and had said to them, 'Goodbye, I won't be seeing you again'. He was also seen throwing the contents of his wallet into the crocodile enclosure.

But his close-knit family refuses to believe that something was bothering him. They cannot believe that he deliberately jumped into harm's way.

When they first heard about the incident, their first thought was: Did someone push him into the tigers' enclosure?

In a phone interview with The New Paper from Kuching, Sarawak, his elder sister, Madam Nora Montong, 34, said: 'We don't know what happened. Maybe he got pushed? Maybe he was in a fight? We can't accept it.'

The housewife described her brother as a happy-go-lucky person who recently told them that he had found a girlfriend - his first.

She said in Malay: 'He said he would be back in February and that he was going to get married.'

He first told the family about the girlfriend last month on Hari Raya.

Madam Nora does not know the woman's name, only that she is from Sabah and works in Singapore.

He never mentioned any relationship problems in his frequent calls home.

Madam Nora said that in the four months her brother was in Singapore, he would call daily whenever he was free, taking turns to speak to his parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.

The day before he died, he was speaking to Madam Nora's 6-month-old son on the phone, saying he could not wait to see him.

'He joked with the baby and made cooing noises,' Madam Nora said.

In his Thursday morning call, Mr Nordin spoke to his mother about mundane things like how the weather had been cold recently, and whether she had eaten.

Now, instead of a happy homecoming, the family is preparing to receive his body, which is scheduled to be flown back by his employers, Sun City, this afternoon.

Mr Nordin used to clean at a hotel before being transferred to the zoo, Madam Nora said.

'We were quite worried that he was working with wild animals but he never mentioned tigers. He only talked about the monkeys and chimpanzees. He was assigned to clean those enclosures.'

Madam Nora said her mother was too distraught to be interviewed. Her mother was the last person in the family to speak to him.

'She is very emotional and can't sleep. Of all of us, she was closest to him because he was the eldest son.'

It was Madam Nora's husband who picked up the phone on Thursday and received the bad news from Mr Nordin's agent.

Madam Nora said: 'He was shocked. When he told us, we couldn't believe it.'

Their shock was made worse by the different versions of his death that they heard.

She said: 'The first time, the agent said he fell. We were able to accept that.

'But after that, the agent called again and said there was a video of him jumping. Until we see it, we won't believe it.'

Could it have been because of girlfriend problems?

Madam Nora was emphatic: 'No. When he had trouble, he would think positive. For example, when he had no money, he wouldn't get stressed. He would take the initiative to get help, like ask for money to buy cigarettes.

'He wouldn't see it as a big problem and he would discuss things with us.'

She said her brother worked in construction in his last job in Sarawak, earning RM550 ($230) a month.

Mr Nordin, who studied until Form 2 (Secondary 2), decided to move to Singapore four months ago to earn more money and gain new experiences.

He earned more than $1,000 a month in his job here.

He was a simple man, she said. He did not know how to use money transfers, so he told his family he would bring back his savings when he returned home in February.

Now, the family just wants to know what happened.

Madam Nora repeatedly asked The New Paper if we had a copy of the video, who the eyewitnesses were, and if we could help investigate his death.

She said: 'We all feel very unsatisfied. Where's the proof?

'We don't want people to speak badly of him. I can't think of any reason he would want to end his life.