A volunteer was bitten by a tiger at Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue

• On Thursday morning, a volunteer with five years of experience was bitten by a tiger at Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue.
• In a Facebook post, Big Cat Rescue said the incident occurred when Candy Couser went to unhook a “guillotine tunnel door” while feeding the animal, which is contrary to Big Cat Rescue’s protocols.
• Big Cat Rescue added that the tiger grabbed Couser’s arm and “almost tore it off his shoulder”, although the volunteer said she didn’t want the animal “to be harmed for this mistake”.
• Baskin, who became famous after the release of the Netflix series “Tiger King”, previously told Insider that Big Cat Rescue works with a large group of volunteers, although he added that they undergo extensive training and “never receive” keys to animal enclosures.
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A volunteer was seriously injured Thursday morning after being bitten by a tiger at Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue.

In a Facebook post, Big Cat Rescue said five-year volunteer Candy Couser was about to feed a tiger named Kimba when she noticed he was “locked in a section” away from where he usually feeds.

He then opened a “guillotine tunnel door” that was closed with a stub – which Big Cat Rescue described as his “universal signal NOT to open a gate without the coordinator coming to help.”

“Candy said she wasn’t thinking when she reached out to unhook it,” wrote Big Cat Rescue. “It is against our protocols that anyone who puts any part of their body in a cage with a cat in it. Kimba grabbed her arm and almost ripped it off.”

Insider received an audio recording from Carole Baskin, taken during the Big Cat Rescue meeting after the accident, who verified the contents of her Facebook post.

Big Cat Rescue went on to say that a staff member named Jane “felt the commotion and came running”, which resulted in Kimba loosening her grip and allowing Couser to “fall off the side of the tunnel”. Another staff member named Gina, who is a nurse, “kept the artery in Candy’s armpit at bay to stop the bleeding” while a staff member named Marc “used the belt as a tourniquet”. Others called an ambulance, Gina packed her arm in ice packs “to try and save him” and the ambulance arrived “within 15-20 minutes of the accident,” according to the Facebook post.

“Candy was still conscious and insisted that she didn’t want Kimba Tiger to be harmed for this mistake,” the group wrote. “He was quarantined for the next 30 days as a precaution, but he behaved normally due to the presence of food and opportunity.”

Big Cat Rescue added that pain counseling is available “for those affected by this tragic event”. The organization also said Baskin reminded all staff and volunteers that “this kind of tragedy can happen in the blink of an eye and we can’t let our guard down for a second around these dangerous cats.”

The group concluded their post by saying, “The fact that despite our intense safety protocols and excellent safety record, an injury like this can occur confirms the inherent danger in dealing with these animals and why we need the Big Cat Public Safety Act eliminate the fact of not having tracked them in backyards across the country and end up in sanctuaries where wonderful people like Candy Couser have pledged to provide assistance to those who are discarded by the gaming industry. “

Big Cat Rescue rose to fame in March following the release of Netflix’s “Tiger King” docuseries

The organization describes itself online as “one of the largest accredited sanctuaries in the world dedicated to abused and abandoned big cats.” It houses more than 50 cats of various species, all saved from being “abandoned, abused, orphaned, turned into furs” or “withdrawn from exhibits”. The rescue began in 1992.

Although Baskin has become the face of the shrine, she also works with unpaid volunteers.

According to Baskin, those wishing to volunteer at Big Cat Rescue must first pass 50 courses at Zoo College, an online school, he told Insider in June. From there, they must “observe the experienced custodians performing a task six times” and then “be observed by an experienced custodian as they perform the task six times”.

“No one who actually trained here as a volunteer or intern would ever say they haven’t been properly trained and managed,” Baskin said at the time. “In many zoos, a person can be hired to care for big cats and within a week, without any formal training in big cat care, have the keys to the cages. Enshala the tiger, who was accidentally released and then killed in the death at the Lowry Park Zoo was just a sad example. “

“At the Big Cat Rescue, a person works with smaller cats, such as 25-pound bobcats and 40-pound lynxes, for two years before they can ever be less than three feet from the outside of a big cat’s cage. cat, and not the keys, “he continued.