TIGER ESCAPES

Hundreds of visitors were taken by panic las Saturday, August 28, when they were at a zoo in WatsonIsland, near the centre of Miami. A 3-year-old Bengal Tiger, weighting more than 250 kilos, called Mahesh, jumped the 4 meters high fence of his enclosure and walked in the park.

Several wounded people and a person suffering from panic attack had to be hospitalized. The zoo, which was inaugurated in the island that connects Miami to MaimiBeach on 2003, used to be located at Parrot Jungle, an area considered to be a patrimony of the city. When the zoo was transferred to the island, they raised its animal collection, including felines. Apart from Mahesh, other two tigers were in the enclosure, but did not run away.

The owner of this zoo was accused by NGO’s for years of raising wild animals, mainly great primates, to sell them. Currently two twin orangutans who were born at Parrot Jungle, and are already grown-up, are the main attraction of the park. The zoo also presents shows with chimpanzees and other animals in different hours, like a circus.

The explanation of the keepers is that a Gibon escaped when was being transferred to a medical treatment and tiger Mahesh went after him to hunt. The tiger was captured with food and there was no need of using anesthetics. During three hours all the visitors were kept in a small closed are of the park until the situation was controlled.

Local authorities will open an investigation process about the episode and will inspect the zoo to check if the enclosures have secure procedures that avoid incidents like that, which put a lot of children in danger.

 
Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International