Tiger Who Killed New Zealand Zookeeper Was Born in Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The Sumatran tiger who attacked and killed a New Zealand zookeeper was born in Israel.
The tiger, named Oz — in Hebrew it means strength or might — attacked veteran zookeeper Samantha Kudeweh, 43, at the Hamilton Zoo on Sunday morning, the Times of Israel reported. Kudeweh, the zoo’s curator, had 20 years of experience.
The zoo will remain closed until Thursday, according to The Associated Press.
Oz, the zoo’s only male tiger, was brought to the Hamilton Zoo in 2014 as part of the Global Species Management plan for Sumatran tigers, according to the New Zealand Herald. It is not known whether the animal will be put down.
Two tiger cubs were born at the zoo last year. Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
