JAPAN: Costumed staff imitate escaping tiger in emergency drill at Tokyo's Tama Zoo

Record ID: 465686

  • Title: JAPAN: Costumed staff imitate escaping tiger in emergency drill at Tokyo's Tama Zoo
  • Date: 22nd February 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 22, 2011) (REUTERS) TAMA ZOO ENTRANCE SIGN THAT READS IN ENGLISH "TAMA ZOO" STAFF IN TIGER SUIT WALKING MORE OF STAFF IN TIGER SUIT WALKING CAR DRIVING TOWARDS TIGER MORE OF THE CAR DRIVING TOWARDS TIGER
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Nature / Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA1E6FC9CK7FJDWDEHN804SKN00
  • Story Text: Costumed staff imitate escaping tiger as Japanese zoo prepares for worst case scenario.
    Costumed staff at a Tokyo area zoo tried to imitate an escaping tiger on Tuesday (February 22) as part of a drill to prepare staff for dealing with an escaped animal.
    The drill is designed to simulate an earthquake and sets up a scenario in which a Siberian Tiger breaks free in order to test the staff's response to recapturing it.
    While the costume itself is significantly more yellow and somewhat more cartoon-like than a real tiger, those watching the drills were impressed at how seriously the staff involved dealt with the situation.
    "I thought it was amazing how everyone taking part was very serious about it," said 16-year-old Kana Murata who had watched the costumed Tiger make its way through the park.
    The staff member who got the job of wearing the costume, 26-year-old Shuhei Yamaguchi, said that it's normally the fate of the younger staff to don the tiger mantle and that he lost out in a game of paper-scissors-stone to receive the honour.
    Other staff also did all they could to keep Yamaguchi away from the nets, even using sticks to tame him.
    "While I was wearing the costume this time, I ran into nets and got whacked with sticks. In that sense, I really got to have the rare experience of seeing how strong some of the other trainers are," Yamaguchi said.
    Yamaguchi also had the help of another staff member to guide him during the simulated escape as the newest costume seriously hinders the wearer's vision.
    While the training itself can been seen as somewhat unrealistic at times, training leader Kiyoshi Nagai said that everyone took the task seriously.
    "This training was laughed at somewhat in the past but I think that all of the staff have taken this training seriously and everyone has done their best," Nagai said.
    The whole exercise lasted approximately an hour and over 70 staff participated before finally tranquillising and capturing the costumed tiger.
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