Posted on 07/26/2015 7:58:26 PM PDT by GoneSalt
A zoo in Ohio has pressed charges against a man who jumped a fence to pet cougars - then posted video of it on YouTube.
Joshua Newell had his camera rolling when he leaped over the outer fence of the big cat enclosure at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
The 35-year-old then began petting two adult cougars through a second fence as he said things like, "Kitty, kitty, kitty".
The footage showed the animals appearing to enjoy the attention.
Zoo officials called the video "alarming" and said it was fortunate that neither Newell nor the cougars were harmed.
"Animal welfare and safety are two of our top priorities," Columbus Zoo president Tom Stalf said in a statement.
"Barriers, like the fence line at the cougar habitat, are in place to keep our guests safe. The actions taken in this video were alarming and resulted in our decision to press charges."
Newell is charged with with a misdemeanour count of trespassing.
He is due to appear in court on Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
Moron.
Obama voter.
Too bad he didn’t get a finger bitten off. Too many stupid people get off scot free despite of their stupidity.
Stupid should hurt.
If you watched the video...those big cats acted exactly like little cats....I was kind of impressed they took to him like that myself...the zoo should hire him.
Not defending the tresspass..just so you know.
It will.
That kind of stupid doesn’t live long.
What an odd notion. It's official US policy that fences are bad and do not work.
I love petting cougars too. ;)
Was he singing “Born Free” by any chance?
Joshua has problems with poor judgment. He also has a need for attention at any cost. You would think the animals would be protected from people barging into their space.
Some evil minded person could get in the Cougar Den for the purpose of stealing or hurting the animals.
This should be a wake up call to this facility.
Licensing may be paying them an unannounced visit very soon.
If you watched the video...those big cats acted exactly like little cats....
...
They are probably well fed and interact with their handlers. They don’t look like full grown cats either.
I’m surprised, too. Still it was a stupid thing to do.
That is an interesting angle.
Why not open all big cat cages to let them run free throughout America’s neighborhoods?
The guy needs to have his posterior kicked up into his shoulder blades. Had those cougars attacked him, they probably would have ended up being euthanized. As it is, he’s made the animals more comfortable with direct human contact, which could present its own problems down the road.
Idiot.
Obviously, those cats were already tame, and of all the big cats, it is my understanding that cougars are the most dog-like (i.e., big happy goofballs) when tame. I hope he doesn’t try that with wild cougars or, God forbid, a lion, tiger or jaguar.
She looks more coyote. I was nibbling on my shoulder.
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