A 38-year-old employee at the Bronx Zoo found himself in an unexpected encounter with a crocodile after slipping while cleaning an animal enclosure on Sunday afternoon. The reptile gave him a nip on the arm, as reported by police and zoo representatives.
Authorities responded to a 911 call about the crocodile incident at around 2:45 p.m., arriving at the well-known New York City zoo to find the unnamed zookeeper had suffered a bite on his left arm. The bite came from a seemingly hungry crocodile, according to police accounts.
The zookeeper, who is anticipated to retain both his position and his limb, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital. He is currently in stable condition as officers from the 52nd Precinct continue to investigate the incident.
According to zoo officials, the mishap occurred as the worker was attending to a tomistoma enclosure, a species within the crocodile family also known as the Malayan gharial. The accident happened around 2:30 p.m. when the employee took a minor fall, leading to the unexpected encounter with the reptile.
“While cleaning the enclosure, the keeper slipped, and a small tomistoma nipped his left forearm,” stated a zoo representative. “The keeper received treatment at a nearby hospital for a minor wound that did not require stitches and has since been released.”
This incident marks one of the few recent animal-related disturbances at the Bronx Zoo, reminiscent of the time a “vicious” peacock caused chaos in the borough after making a daring escape in 2023.
In one of the most horrifying incidents at the park, a demented zoo visitor was mauled and critically injured by a 400-pound Siberian tiger after leaping off the monorail and into the big cat’s enclosure in 2012.
