Honolulu Zoo officials are investigating how one of its tigers walked out of its exhibit area yesterday morning and are planning additional security measures to prevent such an incident from happening again, a city official said.

In a press conference today, City Department of Enterprise Services director Sidney A. Quintal gave additional details about the incident.

Quintal said a zoo employee left two gates to the exhibit area unsecured after he and a volunteer assistant cleaned the exhibit. The 245-pound male tiger, named Berani, was then released into the exhibit. The tiger pushed through both gates and traveled about 30 feet to an enclosed holding area, where the female volunteer was.

Berani walked past the volunteer, who then quickly exited and locked the tiger in, Quintal said. Zoo personnel were able to coax Berani into a secured enclosure in the holding area with a meatball.

Berani escaped from the exhibit at about 8:15 a.m., before the zoo's 9 a.m. opening. Officials estimate he was secured in about 20 to 30 minutes. No person or animal was harmed.

"We want to apologize to the people of Honolulu for this oversight that is right now centered around human error," Quintal said, adding that the employee, who has been working at the zoo for 10 years, feels "very bad."

Quintal said the employee is "an extremely competent keeper" and will not be terminated, but he did not rule out disciplinary action following the investigation.

Quintal said the zoo will be making several security changes, including adding another extended fence enclosure, installing spring-loaded hinges on the gates so they will automatically shut and lock, and provide additional radios.