Detroit, MI – A self-described “extreme-gamer” was mauled by a tiger at the Detroit Zoo on Monday while playing the latest internet craze Pokémon Go.

Pokémon Go uses your phone’s GPS and clock to detect where and when you are in the game and make Pokémon “appear” around you (on your phone screen) so you can go and catch them. As you move around, different and more types of Pokémon will appear depending on where you are and what time it is. The idea is to encourage you to travel around the real world to catch Pokémon in the game but it has had some unintended side-effects for gamers who are not accustomed to the realities of everyday life.

Daniel Lopez, aged 23, of Windsor was playing the game on Monday afternoon when he received a tip about a special Pokémon that you could catch on a field in Detroit.  A Detroit Tiger Pokémon was indeed available but not at the Zoo but at Comerica Park home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team.   A confused Lopez stated “I don’t watch a lot of sports so I didn’t know about the baseball team. I’ve never actually seen a baseball game so I just assumed you would catch a tiger at the zoo.   The clue said it was on a field”.

After hearing the rumour about the Detroit Tiger Pokémon Mr. Lopez raced up from his parent’s basement, caught the Tunnel Bus and made his way to the Detroit Zoo where he entered the tiger enclosure assuming it was the field he was looking for.   Zoo Attendant Jonathan Goode jumped into action “I had to get that idiot out of there but before I could react one of the bengal tigers jumped up and swatted him to the ground.  Luckily enough the tiger backed off but all the guy kept yelling was ‘someone get my phone, get my phone, I want to see my new Pokémon’.  We pulled him out and called an ambulance”.

Zoo officials are now on the look-out for people wandering into animal habitats while staring at their cell phones. Mr. Lopez is recovering at home and has been grounded by his parents for one month.