Callum Jones
Terrifying footage has shown the moment a woman climbed over a zoo fence to stroke a tiger, narrowly avoiding a deadly encounter.
The woman decided to break protocol by jumping over a fence to get close to a Bengal tiger at the Cohanzick Zoo in New Jersey.
A video, which has since been posted to Facebook by the Bridgeton Police Department, saw the woman right up against the wire enclosure of the Bengal tiger pen, which is the home to brothers Rishi and Mahesha.
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She then proceeded to stick her hand through one of the holes in the fence, as the agitated tiger paced back and forth.
At one point, you can see the tiger - which is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and southwestern China - put both of its paws on the wire, which makes the woman realize she should probably leave the scene before something bad happened.
"Reminder to the public when visiting the zoo that it is against City Ordinance to climb over any fence," Bridgeton Police said.
John Medica, Director of Recreation and Public Affairs for the City of Bridgeton, told People: "The high quality care of the animals, along with the safety of our guests and visitors, is our top priority.
"Any visitor behavior that places the animals, staff and members of the public in a potentially dangerous situation is unacceptable and will be addressed accordingly."
Police are now actively searching for the woman seen in the video.
As per CBS News, zoo officials say the woman seen the video tried to do the same thing in a bear exhibit.
However, Medica says she was stopped in her tracks before passing the fence by other visitors to the park.
"This is a unique zoo where you get to go closer than any other zoo that you can get to. But you can't take liberties with that," animal keeper Avery Menear told CBS News.
He added: "I hurt for these guys because they get really frustrated, as well when this happens. They could seriously hurt someone which again reflects badly on them."
The zoo keeper was asked by reporters if the zoo plans to change the way it operates following the incident.
He responded: "I don't want to make any rash decisions in the moment. We're going to evaluate everything. We already were."
UNILAD has approached the Cohanzick Zoo for further comment.
Anyone with information regarding this case are advised to call Bridgeton Police at 856-451-0033 or send anonymous tips at BPD.TIPS.