Tiger that fatally mauled zookeeper in 2016 dies in surgery

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A Malayan tiger that killed a Florida zookeeper last year has died in surgery for an intestinal condition.

The Palm Beach Zoo’s associate curator Nancy Nill said in a news release that 14-year-old Hati underwent surgery last week for “irritations in his guts.” The tiger stopped breathing during a second surgery on Thursday and couldn’t be revived. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday.

The 350-pound (159-kilogram)tiger, who was known to be aggressive and territorial, mauled zookeeper Stacy Konwiser on April 15, 2016, after she walked into a caged area called a “night house.” A state report released in October blamed Konwiser for not following “established safety procedures and exonerated the zoo of wrongdoing.

Nill says Hati has suffered from a range of illnesses since April.