(WSVN) - A newly released report revealed who, officials said, is to blame for a tiger attack at a Florida zoo, where a man nearly had his arm bitten off.
Medical professionals managed to save River Steven Rosenquist’s left arm, hours after he stuck it into a tiger enclosure at the Naples zoo on Dec. 29.
He was airlifted to a Fort Myers hospital, where medical staff managed to save his arm.
A nurse on his team “stated that she noted an odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from River Rosenquist during intubation.”
All that information in a 53 page report by the Florda Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The 26-year-old, employed by an outside company to clean the bathrooms and gift shop, came to 8-year-old Malayan tiger Eko’s enclosure, an unauthorized area, and placed his arm through the security fence.
An FWC investigator put his arm through to show how far a man’s arm could go.
The report said “Mr. Rosenquist was able to call 911, and state that he was being attacked by a tiger.”
With no tranquilizer gun available, a responding Collier County deputy said shooting and killing the big cat was the only way to free Rosenquist, a decision the president and CEO of the zoo said he supported.
“The deputy tried to distract the tiger first, as you saw from the footage, and faced a very difficult decision, and we support that decision.,” said Jack Mulvena, President and CEO of Naples Zoo.
The report clearing the zoo and put all the blame on Rosenquist: “I found no violations as it relates to the Naples zoo. Mr. Rosenquist had to have breached the posted structural safety barrier by jumping over it and inserting his hand or arm into the tiger’s enclosure, leading to this incident.”
Rosenquist did decline to speak to investigators at the hospital beyond saying he hoped to save his hand.
There are two petitions demanding that he face criminal charges for those actions.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is continuing their investigation.
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