An escaped tiger owned by Germany’s self-proclaimed “Tiger Queen” was shot dead by the police after the animal attacked and injured one of the keepers on Sunday, BBC reported.
After attacking the 72-year-old man at an enclosure maintained by former circus tiger tamer Carmen Zander, the big cat, named Sandokan, escaped, leading to panic among the neighbouring residents, The Guardian stated.
Police officers swiftly managed to track the tiger down to a nearby allotment complex and killed it by firing three shots. The entire action took nearly 30 minutes after the animal escaped, with police defending their action as an attempt “to prevent danger to those present.”
The injured keeper is still in the hospital with severe scratches and bites. He was unable to answer any questions, as of late Sunday.
Who was Sandokan, the tiger?
Sandokan was a nine-year-old tiger, 280 kg “majestic” Bengal-Siberian mix, according to The Guardian.
However, he was “a scaredy-cat” that would quickly become overwhelmed, insecure and be triggered more quickly and unexpectedly than the other animals.
Zander’s website stated, quoting her: “That’s why I need to be extremely sensitive and empathetic when training him, so that he feels secure with me,” adding that with the right treatment Sandokan reverted to being “a lovely, cuddly chap again”.
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Probe on
While prosecutors have confirmed that no inquiry was planned against the police officers who killed the animal, an investigation into suspected negligent bodily harm against Zander, over potential breaches of safety protocols, has been launched, according to The Guardian.
A spokesperson told the BBC that how the tiger escaped was also part of the ongoing investigation.
The mayor of Germany’s Dölzig district, Thomas Druskat, has also called for immediate removal of the enclosure.
Owner’s reaction and scrutiny
Zander, who worked for 15 years as a circus tiger tamer, expressed her shock over the incident, and avowed her love for her tigers, according to The Guardian report.
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“It’s actually every animal trainer’s worst nightmare,” she told the public broadcaster MDR, while expressing her concern for her inkured colleague.
Zander, who had secured multiple prizes at the Monte Carlo circus festival, had also faced scrutiny earlier concerning the living conditions of her animals at the enclosure located in an industrial zone of Schkeuditz, the report highlighted.
With eight tigers living in that facility, including Sandokan, The Guardian quoted, Zander was asked to “comply with the regulations in such a way that all animals have access to the required indoor and outdoor space, or to reduce the number of animals to fit the space currently available”.
Animal protection groups’ call for bans
Following the incident, the German Animal Protection Association has called for stronger legal protections that would govern keeping wild animals, including a ban.
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Meanwhile, the animal rights group Peta, said veterinary authorities “share responsibility for this tragic incident” by having failed to act against the facility sooner. Peta also demanded that the remaining animals inside the facility be confiscated.
It also called for stricter rules to be put in place to protect privately-owned animals, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported.
Peta has also in the past criticised how Zander kept the big cats: “a tiny space in their enclosure, in bare metal cages, and deprived of everything that would constitute a species-appropriate life for a tiger.”
Zander, however, had insisted her enclosure offered more hospitable conditions to those usually experienced by tigers in captivity, the report quoted. If the animals were taken away from her, she said, “they would become apathetic and refuse to eat. They would call out for me for days on end, withdraw into themselves and die.”
