All it took for one woman to leap into a dangerous animal enclosure was a hat.
In a video posted to YouTube on Saturday, a woman is seen climbing over a safety fence for the tiger pen at the Toronto Zoo to retrieve a hat that had fallen in.
The tiger, separated by a second fence, paces back and forth trying to get to her.
After recovering her prized garment, she then makes her way over the fence again, back to safety.
The tiger and the woman were separated by a wire fence. (Photo: YouTube)
A man is heard shouting at the woman, calling her a moron.
"You're a bad example to everyone's kids," he yelled.
Another woman jumps in to break up the argument, but he continues berating her for her action.
The zoo has since launched an investigation into the incident, and is asking anyone with information to come forward.
"You're a bad example to everyone's kids."
Jared Sales, who posted the video, said it happened just after 3 p.m. Saturday, according to CityNews.
Spokesperson Jennifer Tracey told CBC News "the situation could have been much worse."
"It's not unusual that visitors may drop things [inside an animal's pen], but when they do, they should notify zoo staff because they have the necessary equipment to help retrieve it," she said.
"It was very irresponsible of this individual to jump over the boardwalk and [she] could have easily injured herself by exciting the animal in this way."
Tracey said the zoo staff member in charge of watching the tiger is also responsible for other animals in that area, including the snow leopard and rhino, and may have been at another pen at the time.
Last December, a man had to be rescued at China's Henan Zoo after he jumped from a chairlift above the tiger exhibit in order to do an aerial somersault.
Luckily, he fell onto a net below.
Even with trained professionals, encounters with the large carnivorous cat can turn deadly.
On Friday, a zookeeper in Florida was attacked by a tiger and later died of her injuries, according to Reuters.
With a file from the Huffington Post
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