CCSO Reports Tiger Attack at Wooten’s Airboats

This is what the Collier County Sheriff’s Office shared Tuesday, March 22nd, “CCSO Deputies have responded to a tiger attack at Wooten’s Airboats located at 32300 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee in the Everglades area. This occurred at approximately 4:30 PM.”

“Preliminary (very) info indicates a tiger in an enclosure at that location was being fed by its caretaker when a 50-year-old male, an employee of Wooten’s who was not authorized to be with the tiger, entered the tiger’s enclosure. The tiger attacked the man and caused injuries to both arms. The man has been transported to a hospital by EMS.  Again, this is early info from the scene that could change as more information becomes available.”

After reaching out to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) this afternoon, they came back with this response. “We are aware of this incident and are working to gather details and more information.”

According to Wooten’s website they have an animal sanctuary housing tigers, turtles, alligators and two lions.  They also had a video of the tiger enclosure showing the two tigers available on YouTube.

In December, 2021, while the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens was closed for the day, a member of the cleaning service, entered an unauthorized area near a tiger enclosure and according to statements from the Collier County Sheriff’s office, the man put his hand through the enclosure fence prompting the tiger to pull his arm into the enclosure. 

A member of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office responding to the scene tried unsuccessfully to get the tiger to release the man’s arm.  The officer shot the animal to save the man’s life.  The tiger was Eko, an eight-year-old rare Malayan tiger.

According to FWC Report “Naples Zoo tiger's enclosure is equipped with lockdown systems as required. It is also equipped with a structural safety barrier to prevent unauthorized access to the tiger's enclosure. The structural safety barrier is posted with a sign stating, DANGER AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.”