Tiger euthanized after escaping farm, attacking local man and animals

Johannesburg — Sheba, an 8-year-old tiger that escaped from a small enclosure at a farm south of Johannesburg over the weekend, was euthanized Monday after officers determined attempting to recapture the animal was too dangerous. 

South African police in helicopters and rescue groups on foot spent 5 days following up on sightings as they looked for the massive cat.   

Rescuers utilizing bait got here near capturing the tiger thrice on Monday, however she managed to thwart all their makes an attempt. A 39-year-old native man, William Mokoena, was mauled and hospitalized in addition to a pig and two canines. Both canines suffered extreme accidents and had been put down. 

Sheba was situated within the early hours of Monday morning on the periphery of a fruit farm not removed from the place she’d escaped. Calls from staff on the farm got here right into a group policing unit simply earlier than 2 a.m. native time. By then, Sheba had entered a farm space with six household properties. She had already killed considered one of their animals.

“It’s a dangerous situation,” Drew Abrahamson, of the Captured in Africa Foundation, informed native journalists. “You are dealing with a specialized predator who only likes to operate at night, and at night we cannot go in on foot and try to locate her because the situation becomes that much more dangerous.” 

Due to the proximity of the households within the space, it was determined there was no alternative to securely dart the tiger. Officials with the native department of South Africa’s Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) stated there have been too many dangers with attempting to dart an animal at evening, so consultants made the robust choice to euthanized the massive cat. 

A second tiger who lived with Sheba, Tyson, was relocated over the weekend from the farm the place they lived, because the proprietor was fearful he might escape as nicely.   

SPCA officers say they had been against folks preserving harmful animals as pets in such shut proximity to giant cities, and so they known as for tighter permits for the preserving of enormous predators.