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South AfricaA tigress escaped from a farm prowls near Johannesburg
The feline managed to get out of its enclosure on Saturday following an unknown person cut the fence. He has already attacked a man, and killed a dog and a deer, South African police said.
About forty people are on the trail of the 8-year-old Bengal tigress who escaped from her enclosure in Waterville, south of Johannesburg.
Photo d’illustration/Pixabay
A tigress escaped from an exotic animal farm, which has been prowling for two days near the Johannesburg metropolitan area, has already attacked a man and killed a dog and a deer in its path, warned Monday the South African police. “The search is still ongoing,” the 39-year-old victim survived, spokesman Dimakatso Sello said.
Police, conservationists and neighbours: Around 40 people are thrown into a hunt for the eight-year-old Bengal tigress. The big cat managed to get out of its enclosure on Saturday following an unknown person cut the fence on a farm regarding thirty kilometers from Johannesburg. “We use drones, a helicopter. But the density of the bush makes it difficult,” said Gresham Mandy, a local community representative.
A non-endemic species
The endangered tiger is not endemic to South Africa, but breeding has become increasingly common in recent years. However, the country does not have an official census of its tiger population. According to animal rights NGO Four Paws, almost 10% of the world’s population (359 specimens) were exported from South Africa between 2011 and 2020, most sold to zoos. The South African Humane Society has deemed it “extremely unsafe and irresponsible to keep these animals in a residential area”.
(AFP)
