The Honolulu Zoo went on "code red" alert when a tiger got out of his exhibit area Thursday morning, but in the end getting the animal back into a secure area required no extraordinary measures — just a meatball.

The entire episode lasted 20 to 25 minutes — all before the zoo had opened for the day — and no one was hurt, a city official said yesterday.

However, the 245-pound male tiger named Berani walked right past a defenseless volunteer and for a few minutes was in an area where nothing but a 4-foot fence separated him from the wider public areas of the zoo, including a playground yards away.

Zoo officials are investigating and planning additional security to prevent such an incident from happening again, said city Department of Enterprise Services director Sidney A. Quintal.

Quintal yesterday apologized "to the people of Honolulu for this oversight that is right now centered around human error."

He said a zookeeper neglected to secure two gates to the tiger exhibit after he and a female volunteer cleaned the exhibit. Berani was released back into the exhibit, and he pushed through both gates to an open area, which is separated from the public areas by a fence slightly higher than 4 feet.

VOLUNTEER ACTS QUICKLY

Berani was in this area for a few minutes, walking about 30 feet to another enclosed holding area, where a female volunteer was cleaning one of the quarters, Quintal said.

"The volunteer who was cleaning that holding area had finished washing down the area ... and she looked up and Berani just came walking right by like she didn't exist," Quintal said. "We feel he was looking for (his mate) Chrissie."

The volunteer quickly left the holding area, closed the gate to keep the tiger in, and notified a zoo employee, who radioed a "code red" alarm. The alarm triggers a response from personnel, including a veterinarian with a tranquilizer gun as well as a shooter team, Quintal said.

"Had he (Berani) been loose, we would have had to put him down," he said.

But zoo personnel were ultimately able to coax Berani into a secure holding room with a meatball.

'WE FEEL VERY BAD'

Berani, about 8 years old, was raised by humans and is the friendliest of the zoo's three Sumatran tigers, Quintal said.

He said the zookeeper, whom he described as an "extremely competent keeper," has been working at the zoo for 10 years and feels "very bad." Quintal said the employee will not be terminated but did not rule out disciplinary action following the investigation.

"What we're looking at here is a system that broke down," Quintal said. "It broke down in either our inability to train more clearly and to communicate more clearly. ... We feel very bad about it, but we're taking it very, very seriously."

The zoo will be making security changes to the tiger exhibit, including adding another extended fence enclosure where Berani briefly roamed and installing spring-loaded hinges on the gates so they will automatically shut and lock, Quintal said.

The incident happened on the same day that the San Francisco Zoo reopened its big cat exhibit. On Christmas Day a 350-pound Siberian tiger escaped from her enclosure, killing a visitor and mauling two others.

VISITORS UNDAUNTED

News of the brief tiger escape didn't scare away Kailua home-school mom Lynette Unger, who visited the zoo yesterday with her two children and a friend.

"My first reaction was this was probably a really safe day to come because if the tiger had gotten out yesterday, they would really be on their guard to make sure that the enclosure was secured this time," she said, adding that she and her family visit the zoo every three to four months.

"If they had more than one incident in a short period of time, you would know something was really wrong. But the fact that it happened at 8:15 yesterday morning and they got it back pretty quick, got the zoo open, everything was fine, means they're on top of things."

Lori Taylor, 32, from Schofield, said she was a little concerned Thursday night.

"It was a little frightening, especially knowing we were coming for a field trip (yesterday) with my son's kindergarten class," she said. "We felt pretty sure that it was taken care of."

PETA SENDS LETTER

The organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals yesterday sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's animal care unit urging an investigation of the incident at the Honolulu Zoo. The letter said the zoo violated two sections of the Animal Welfare Act dealing with the safe handling of animals and the integrity of the zoo's structures.

"Nothing but sheer luck kept the tiger escape at the Honolulu Zoo from turning into a nightmare like Christmas Day at the San Francisco Zoo," PETA Director Debbie Leahy said. "The frustration, loneliness, and deprivation that big cats in zoos are subjected to turn these proud and powerful animals into ticking time bombs."

Quintal declined comment on the letter, saying he had not seen it. But he said Thursday's incident "was not intentional and we feel that there was no neglect in this area. It's just an unfortunate human error."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.