Hamilton Zoo Tiger kills woman at Hamilton Zoo

There have certainly been no shortage of the uneducated speaking to the media on this matter. Wellington Zoo got the ball rolling with one of their staff members saying she didn't know if Hamilton Zoo staff went in with their tigers on a routine basis. Surely staff should have at least a basic knowledge of the other three major zoos in this country. Most should even know Hamilton's eldest tigress, Mencari, was born at Wellington.

Then we had the Auckland vet who didn't work with big cats, but worked with domestic cats, which gave him the education to advise Oz attacked because it was 'breeding season.' Tigers breed all year round, not to mention the fact Hamilton holds a speyed female, a lactating female, and an immature female, non of which would have been of interest to Oz.

Finally, we have a councillor who suggested Hamilton Zoo should send away all it's dangerous animals and have a small animal zoo. As the second biggest financial drawcard of HCC, I'm sure that was a popular suggestion. I'm sure tourists will come from far and wide to see a real New Zealand sheep, perhaps they'll go really wild and host donkey rides!

All that we have been told is that the keeper should not have been in with Oz when the attack happened, which to me is stating the obvious. I don't think it's fair to speculate on whether it was her fault or not until we know all the details. From what her collegues have said, she was an upmost professional in her work, and an asset to the zoo and wider zoo community.

 

The Hamilton City Council have announced the scope of the review into the incident.

Story here: Hamilton Zoo tiger attack review won't cover keeping of big animals | Stuff.co.nz

 

Bravery awards have been presented to two keepers at Hamilton Zoo.

Story here: Zookeeper who lured tiger with toy after attack gets bravery award | Stuff.co.nz

 

Hamilton City Council is set to appear in court over the fatal mauling of a zookeeper by a tiger.

Samantha Kudeweh, 43, was killed in September 2015 by Oz, an adult male Sumatran tiger, in his enclosure at Hamilton Zoo.

WorkSafe in March laid charges against the council, alleging it had breached the Health and Safety in Employment Act by not taking all practical steps to protect the keeper.

Both WorkSafe and the council are set to appear for a hearing on Thursday, although both have declined to comment further on the matter.

The council faces a possible maximum fine of $250,000 over the breach, Worksafe said.

Ms Kudeweh was a senior member of the zoo's team and had been a keeper for more than two decades.


Hamilton City Council in court over fatal tiger attack at zoo | NZNews | Newshub

 

Zoo boosts safety systems after keeper's death

Hamilton City Council has spent more than $200,000 on safety improvements at Hamilton Zoo following the death of a zookeeper, it says.

Samantha Lynda KudewehSamantha Kudeweh Photo: Hamilton Zoo website
Sentencing has been delayed until Friday in relation to health and safety charges laid by WorkSafe after Samantha Kudeweh was mauled by a tiger last September.

The 43-year-old was killed after entering the enclosure of a tiger at Hamilton Zoo, not knowing he was roaming free.

In Hamilton District Court today, the council said it had since spent $217,000 on improving zoo safety, including introducing a two-keeper system for tigers, installing CCTV cameras, improving radio communications, gates, locking systems, signage and visibility.

It said it had also spent $125,000 on an independent report, and had made $116,000 in discretionary payments to Ms Kudeweh's family.

The council pleaded guilty in June to failing to take all practical steps to ensure her safety.

The maximum fine for the charge is $250,000.

But the council argued it should be fined no more than $40,000, after taking into account mitigating factors such as the reparations it had already made, its early guilty plea, and previous record of no health and safety convictions.

If further reparations were required, the council should only pay modest sums for emotional harm and financial loss, it said.

The council's lawyer, James Gurnick, said the council was genuinely remorseful and had attended a restorative justice conference with the victims' family.

WorkSafe said the council should be fined $42,000, and pay $110,000 for emotional harm and $190,000 for financial loss.

Its prosecutor, Catlijne Pille, said the financial loss included the loss of Ms Kudeweh's earnings, up until the time her two children come of age.

Ms Pille said Ms Kudeweh's husband Richard, who was also working at the zoo at the time of her death, no longer felt able to work there and faced an uncertain financial future.

Richard Kudewah, the husband of Samantha Kudeweh, the woman killed by a tiger at Hamilton Zoo in 2015.Richard Kudewah Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae
She said the tiger was an obvious hazard and there were practical steps that could have been taken prior to the accident.

Those included implementing a two-keeper system, and making adjustments to gates, locking devices and signage.

She said a 2013 incident, when a keeper had a close call with a tiger, should have alerted the council that steps needed to be taken.

Mr Gurnick said the council's departure from industry standards was not significant in an industry where there was a lack of discernible international guidelines.

He said WorkSafe's practical steps were not fail safe, and processes would always require keepers to identify that an animal was not in an enclosure they were about to enter.

Zoo boosts safety systems after keeper's death | Radio New Zealand News

 

Article from the New Zealand Herald:

Hamilton Zoo curator Samantha Kudeweh's death result of cost-cutting - WorkSafe

Hamilton Zoo curator Samantha Kudeweh's death result of cost-cutting - WorkSafe

Cost-cutting ultimately claimed zookeeper Samantha Kudeweh's life when she was mauled by a Sumatran tiger, according to a WorkSafe report into her death.

Hamilton Zoo was critically understaffed and changes made to a gate system on the tiger enclosure where Kudeweh was killed in 2015 contributed to the tragedy, the report said.

The crucial change, installing a two-gate airlock system and repositioning the keeper gate following a near-miss encounter between another keeper and tiger in 2013, meant Kudeweh, 43, could not easily see the tigers' exit gates were open.

And simple changes including painting sliding-gate counterweights a bright colour could have saved Kudeweh's life, but the paint was deemed too expensive to buy, according to the report - released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.

Moving the keeper gate was chosen over realigning the fence because that would cost too much and the report found the Hamilton City Council-owned zoo had a dangerous staffing ratio of one keeper per 21 animals, compared to one per seven at Auckland and Wellington zoos.

It also found those low staffing numbers meant zookeepers were attending to the most dangerous animals, tigers and chimpanzees, alone instead of in pairs.

Staff felt it was a matter of time before an accident would happen.

Read the rest of the article on the provided link.

 

That's a very damning report. Could any local members offer comment as to whether it is reasonable and unbiased?