JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville mother says a stranger tried to lure her little girl away during a school field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo on Friday, and that the zoo waited about a day to call police.
The mother, who spoke with Action News Jax over the weekend, said it happened Friday afternoon in the zoo’s play park. No child was taken or hurt, but police weren’t called until the next day.
“I feel like he had to be watching me because the whole trip I sounded like a broken record, like a helicopter mom about my kids,” she said.
“I can’t even imagine that situation. That’d be really hard. And then to have the zoo just forget about it and not say anything about it, that’s just not right,” said a grandparent visiting the zoo.
The mother said zoo security told her another child was approached that same day and that the zoo held off calling the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to gather more evidence.
She said the play park has a blind spot without security cameras.
“The park had that one blind spot and the zoo does not have cameras in the park area, I guess, which I think they should definitely rectify immediately because obviously that’s the perfect place for someone to approach a child,” she said.
The concerns come six days before Kids Free November, when thousands of children will get into the Jacksonville Zoo for free. The zoo says it’s adding rangers but won’t say what else is planned for the promotion.
Action News Jax has asked for days why the zoo waited to call police. On Monday, a zoo spokesperson said only that the zoo will not be commenting further. At the front gate Monday, staff directed Action News Jax back to the same email address it had written to all weekend.
For the mother, the experience has changed how she feels about taking her children out.
“I don’t want to take my kid anywhere because you just never know now. Like, I just want to protect my babies,” she said.
Action News Jax has requested the incident report from JSO and is still waiting to receive it. Anyone who sees anything suspicious at the zoo is urged to tell staff or call police.
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