Remembering Eko

On Wednesday, December 29th, after the Naples Zoo and Caribbean Gardens had closed for the day, River Rosenquist, 26, of Naples, a member of a third-party Cleaning Service (HMI) contracted by the zoo, suffered serious injuries when he entered an unauthorized area near a tiger that was inside it’s enclosure.

Preliminary information indicates that River jumped a public barrier fence into an unauthorized space just in front of the tiger habitat. River was never inside the tiger’s habitat; he was either petting or feeding the animal, both of which are unauthorized and dangerous activities. Initial reports indicate that the tiger grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it into the enclosure.

At 6:26 PM the Collier County Sheriff’s Office was called. The first CCSO deputy on the scene kicked the enclosure and tried to get the tiger to release the man’s arm from its mouth. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office released the body camera video, which is very graphic, showing the deputy with no option but to shoot the tiger in order to save Rosenquist’s life.

River Rosenquist was seriously injured and was transported to an area hospital by Collier County EMS.

The tiger retreated to the rear of the enclosure after being shot with a single bullet. A CCSO drone was flown into the enclosure to determine the tiger’s injuries. Eko, the Malayan Tiger was unresponsive and confirmed dead by the Naples Zoo veterinarian.

“Our deputy did everything he could in that situation and he ultimately made the only possible decision he could in order to save the man’s life,” said Collier County Sheriff’s Kevin Rambosk.

Eko, the eight-year-old endangered Malayan Tiger was born on November 13, 2013 at Little Rock Zoo, as part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) coordinated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He was later cared for at the Woodland Park Zoo and arrived in Naples on December 4, 2019. According to Tim Tetzlaff, Director of Conservation at Naples Zoo, Eko is an ambassador for his species and as part of the SSP - which is similar to Match.com for humans - if Eko was selected for breeding, he would have been taken to another accredited zoo to help maintain a genetically diverse Malayan Tiger population in zoos.

The magnificent Malayan Tigers are critically endangered and are one of the rarest tigers of all. I spoke with Tim Tetzlaff in July during World Tiger Day, and he shared that we have less than 80 to 120 breeding adults in the wild and about 55 to 60 in captivity in North America. In the wild, they can only be found in the thick tropical rainforest of the Malay Peninsula.

On December 30, the Naples Zoo was closed to allow law enforcement to complete their investigations. The Zoo also began their own internal investigation, and they also brought in a grief counselor to help the staff begin the healing process.

On December 31 (New Year’s Eve), Jack Mulvena, Naples Zoo’s President and CEO gave a public statement and answered questions in an effort to be as transparent as possible.

“This is a tough time. We lost a member of our family in Eko and we are all grieving,” stated Mulvena.

First, Mulvena offered his prayers and well wishes to River Rosenquist, his family and his doctors in what is going to be a difficult recovery process. During the 911 call, River was heard repeatedly saying “I’m sorry.”

Mulvena also praised the Collier County Sheriff’s exceptional response time and said the Naples Zoo was very supportive of the decision they made and happy to be in partnership with them in Collier County.

Some of the questions posed:

Question: Is the Zoo going to press charges?

Answer: The focus right now is on the staff and have not had time to consider a course of action. But it was Mulvena’s understanding that the State is looking at this possibility.

Question: Tell us about HMI – the commercial cleaning service.

Answer: HMI has been working with the Zoo for quite some time with many clients in the Naples area. HMI’s responsibility is very specific – to clean the hospital, commissary, gift shop, admission and two public restrooms and they are not to be in any areas that they are not supposed to be in.

Question: Will you continue to use HMI?

Answer: We have suspended their services for now and are in the reviewing process.

Question: Do you screen the workers that come into the Zoo after hours?

Answer: We are not in a position to screen their employees but we certainly screen the companies and get references.

Question: You do not have security cameras – is this something you are looking into?

Answer: We are in the process of reviewing all our policies and protocols, which are consistent with the over 200 accredited zoos in the country.

According to Mulvena, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission conducts annual and sometimes multiple inspections to review their safety, policies, animal care, veterinary care, exhibits and barriers and there was every indication from FWC that we are doing what we needed to do and following all the protocols in place.

Question: Why don’t your security staff carry tranquilizer darts?

Answer: Their job after hours is basically monitoring. They roam the 43-acre property.

Question: Tell us about your tranquilizer staff.

Answer:  We have a dart team; a full-time trained weapons team; we have an incident commander all assigned to protect the zoo during hours. We have these weapons and resources available to us. I will tell you tranquilizer darts take time to set in. And having spoken with our dart and weapons team, they are all in agreement that given the circumstances, they probably would have done the same thing.

Question: Will there be a shrine for Eko – what can we do to remember Eko?

Answer: We want Eko’s memory to live on and Naples Zoo is establishing the Eko Tiger Conservation Fund. 100% of the funds received will go to helping save the Malaysian tigers through the efforts of the Wildlife Conservation Society. To donate: www.napleszoo.org/donate with the word TIGER in the comment section.

A necropsy performed on Eko reports that the tiger died due to internal bleeding caused by the gunshot. The report states that “the severities of the lacerations indicate that he expired quickly.”