BRIDGETON, New Jersey — A New Jersey woman has been charged with trespassing after she is accused of illegally climbing into a zoo enclosure last week.
Zyair J. Dennis, 24, of Millville, is facing one count of Defiant Trespassing. She is also accused of violating two city ordinances that prohibit people from climbing fences within the zoo — something that is clearly marked on the signs outside of the enclosure.
Police say she hopped a fence and entered a restricted area adjacent to both the tiger and bear enclosures at the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton on August 18.
After Dennis went over the wooden fence that holds two 500-pound Bengal tigers, police say she began “enticing” one of the tigers by putting her hand through the wire enclosure.
Last week, Bridgeton police released a video of a woman who they say is Dennis. In the video, you see the woman nearly getting bitten by one of the big cats.
“That back-and-forth behavior that he did is like a pacing thing. You can also see his tail is going and that’s an agitated behavior,” animal keeper Avery Menear said as she described the behavior of 7-year-old Mahesha. “As soon as she turned around, on the video you can see his paw go up, and after she reached out towards him, those are all predatory behaviors he was displaying.”
Police said they also were given a similar video depicting the same scenario at the bear enclosure the same day involving the same person.
Frequent visitors of Bridgeton’s hidden gem of a zoo became visibly upset upon watching the video.
“I don’t know what people think,” said Sharon Simpkins, of Salem County, NJ. “They’re here for our display and people should not try and do something like that it’s crazy.”
“It’s mind-boggling to me how someone could make such a selfish choice,” said Sherri Riddle, of Bridgeton, NJ.
Police say not only was this inappropriate but also dangerous.
Bridgeton Chief of Police Michael Gaimari Sr. said video and photos posted by the police department yielded instant responses on the department’s BPD.TIPS tab that led directly to Dennis’ identification.
Dennis will be scheduled to appear in Bridgeton Municipal Court at a date yet to be determined.
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