BERLIN – German police said May 18 they had shot dead a tiger that escaped a privately-run enclosure in the eastern city of Leipzig after attacking one of the keepers.
A police spokesman told AFP that the animal had seriously injured one person, who was being treated in hospital.
The incident happened on the afternoon of May 17 and involved an “escaped tiger which was killed by police using firearms”, the spokesman said, adding that an emergency services helicopter was used during the search for the animal.
The tiger had escaped from the property of a “private individual” on the outskirts of Leipzig, the spokesman said, without giving further details.
According to local media the animal escaped from the property of a tiger trainer called Carmen Zander, known as the “Tiger Queen”.
Ms Zander has faced criticism in the past for the conditions in which the animals were kept at her enclosure.
Animal rights organisation PETA charged that local veterinary authorities “share responsibility for this tragic incident” by failing to act against Ms Zander sooner.
The organisation demanded that the remaining nine animals at the enclosure be confiscated. AFP
