A Boston biology major was arrested for allegedly trying to break into a tiger enclosure at a Boston zoo so he could make eye contact with the wild cat and see how it would react.
Matthew Abraham, 24, of Worcester, was arrested on Monday after allegedly climbing multiple fences to get into the enclosure at the Franklin Park Zoo.
Abraham was spotted by staff in the non-public area behind the Tiger Tales exhibit that houses Anala, a Bengal mix, WCVB.com reported.
When he was seen in the enclosure, the Worcester State University student who is majoring in biology hopped over a gate and fled before being detained by zoo security.
But according to Abraham, the incident was a big misunderstanding.
‘I was there as a spectator of the zoo. I didn’t mean to harm anybody. I wasn’t looking to harm the tiger. I wasn’t looking to harm myself neither,’ Abraham told local station WCVB in an interview in his front door.
‘My plan was just to go see what is a tiger. How would a tiger react to a human being?’
The student, who answered the door holding what appeared to be a violin, also claimed he was on a mission to see into the ‘eye of the tiger,’ telling the outlet it was because the ‘soul is visible through the eye’ and it’s ‘the most dangerous thing you’ll ever see in your whole life.’
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Matthew Abraham, 24, (pictured) was arrested on Monday after allegedly climbing multiple fences to get into a tiger enclosure at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston
Abraham was spotted by staff in the non-public area behind the Tiger Tales exhibit, that houses Anala, a Bengal mix (pictured)
Anala, a Bengal mix, (pictured) came to the Boston Zoo after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rescued her from owners who were keeping her illegally in neglectful conditions
Abraham, who answered the door holding what appeared to be a violin, claimed it was a big misunderstanding and his plan was to see how the creature would react to a human
No animals or people were injured in the incident, Franklin Park Zoo said.
Massachusetts State Police said the 24-year-old was evaluated by Boston Emergency Medical Services and deemed mentally competent.
After refusing medical attention he was taken into custody and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct before being released on $40 bail clerk’s fee.
He admitted to WCVB that he did not pay admission to get into the zoo, he just wandered in.
‘The gates were open,’ Abraham said. ‘I walked in the gates and then they closed that gate on me. I didn’t realize I was trespassing. I thought I was just going to view the exhibit.’
In the interview he plainly states that he did not break into the enclosure and that there was always a safe distance between him and the wild cat.
‘I didn’t break in, I was let in,’ Abraham added. ‘The tiger was in his cage. The tiger saw me and growled at me and that was all.’
But then he adds that he was on a thrill seeking mission to look the tiger directly in its eyes.
The student also claimed he was also on a mission to see into the ‘eye of the tiger,’ telling the outlet it was because the ‘soul is visible through the eye’ and
Franklin Park Zoo in Boston said that no animals or people were injured in the incident
Abraham admitted to WCVB that he did not pay admission to get into the zoo, he just wandered in. ‘The gates were open,’ he said
‘They say it’s something called the eye of the tiger. They say the eye of the tiger is the most dangerous thing you’ll ever see in your whole life,’ Abraham said, referring to the popular 1982 song of the same name by the band Survivor.
When asked if he was literally trying to get close enough to look the tiger directly in its eye he replied: ‘Yes. They say that the soul is visible through the eye.’
‘The gates were open. I walked in the gates and then they closed that gate on me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t realize I was trespassing. I thought I was just going to view the exhibit.’
The 72-acre Boston zoo, which opened in 1912, is home to a variety of animals, including an African lion, a Masai giraffe, a Pygmy hippopotamus and a West African dwarf crocodile.