Child climbed barrier to pat cheetah

In response, the zoo planned to replace the fencing with a glass enclosure. Photo / iStock

A school child climbed a safety barrier and reached through a fence to pat a cheetah at Wellington Zoo, a new report on zoo-related incidents shows.

The Environmental Protection Authority's regular report showed 41 incidents involving zoo animals in the 2014-15 year, including monkey escapes and an unlocked alligator enclosure.

None of the incidents were classed as higher than a Level 2, which is defined as "minor".

The report said that in October 2014, a school child at the Wellington Zoo climbed over the visitor barrier to the cheetah enclosure, put their hand through fencing mesh and patted one of the cheetahs. The child was unhurt.

In response, the zoo planned to replace the fencing with a glass enclosure.

In another incident in May, an unnamed zoo left its alligator enclosure unlocked. The zoo was forced to review its procedures and it now checked all enclosures before it opened to the public.

Last November, five spider monkeys escaped Orana Park in Christchurch. The report said the park was shut down, and all monkeys were eventually recaptured.

Most of the incidents in the report were at the low end of the scale. The most common incident in New Zealand zoos was butterfly escapes.