Syracuse boy who sneaked into zoo clawed by snow leopard

By Associated Press, 4/13/2002 10:51

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) An 11-year-old boy required stitches after he sneaked into a zoo exhibit and got clawed by a snow leopard.

Eric Rivers, of Syracuse, and three friends all boys between ages 9 and 14 jumped a fence Friday night to get into Rosamond Gifford Zoo after it closed, reported The Post-Standard of Syracuse on Saturday.

The boys jumped a second fence about 7:30 p.m. to get into the snow leopard exhibit, said Syracuse Lt. Joe Cecile.

The leopard scratched Rivers' face, back and neck before he managed to get away and run to a nearby house, where a resident called 911, Cecile said.

Rivers was treated at University Hospital for eight cuts and puncture wounds, Cecile said.

The zoo closes at 4:30 p.m. The boys sneaked in after the night security guard made his rounds, said Anne Baker, the zoo's director.

''There's no way the public can actually get in with the snow leopards,'' she said. ''Their cage is covered with mesh.''

It's unlikely the leopard could bite anyone through the mesh, Baker said. ''Whatever injuries there are,'' she added, ''they were probably made by the animal's claws.''

© Copyright 2002 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing Inc.

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