Stacey Konwiser, the South Florida zoo keeper who was attacked and killed by a tiger last week, was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, the college confirmed in a statement Monday.
Konwiser, 38, graduated from the college in 2000 with a degree in biology.
“Our hearts go out to the family, colleagues and friends of Stacey Feige Konwiser, a member of Mount Holyoke’s Class of 2000,” read the statement issued by the college. “Stacey exemplified our mission of using liberal learning for purposeful engagement in the world, and we are very proud that she was an alumna.”
Konwiser, 38, was killed by a 13-year-old male Malayan tiger in an enclosure known as the night house on Friday. Tigers sleep and are fed in the night house, which is not visible to the public, according to zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter.
Zoo staffers and friends of Konwiser, who was a veteran keeper, met Saturday morning to mourn her death as investigators sought clues as to what led the tiger to violently turn on his caretaker.
The zoo was closed over the weekend and reopened Monday.
On Saturday morning, Konwiser’s husband, Jeremy, also a Palm Beach Zoo keeper, read a “note of support” to staff, said Carter, who added that the zoo is trying to establish a memorial fund in Konwiser’s honor.
“This is a very difficult situation for all Zoo staff, the Konwiser family and her extended Zoo family,” said a statement from zoo officials.
The tiger was tranquilized and authorities had to wait until the sedative took effect before they could come to Konwiser’s aid, West Palm Beach police spokeswoman Lori Colombino said. It’s unclear why the Malayan tiger was not killed, but zoo officials said it is one of only 250 such tigers known to exist in the world.
Carter said the zoo, which has four similar tigers, serves as a “breeding ground to make sure they don’t become extinct.”
The investigation into the keeper’s death is being carried out by West Palm Beach police, Florida Fish and Wildlife officials and by federal authorities with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund says the zoo keeper’s death was preventable and urged federal authorities to impose penalties against the zoo.
“As long as employees are allowed to work in dangerously close proximity to tigers, elephants, and other dangerous animals, a significant risk of serious injury or death persists,” said the California-based group said in a statement.
Since 1990, according to the group, at least 24 deaths— and 265 injuries — were caused by “captive big cats” in the United States. “These attacks, and scenarios where an animal escapes, have also resulted in the deaths of over 128 big cats, many of whom were endangered species,” the group said.
Konwiser’s death was the first of “a human involved in an animal incident in the 60-year history of the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society,” zoo officials said.
Carter, the zoo spokeswoman, said Konwiser was “efficient and proficient” at her job and, on the afternoon of the attack, she said Konwiser was doing her daily chores. “This was not out of the norm,” said Carter. “What occurred was out of the norm.”
She said Konwiser had been working with tigers at the zoo for three years and was “passionate” about them. “She loved tigers and they loved her,” she said.
Gazette Staff Writer Chris Lindahl contributed to this report.