Tigers Shot Dead at Tourist Trap After Killing Keeper and Escaping From Cage
Authorities in China’s Henan province reportedly shot dead two tigers on May 25, 2021, after the big cats killed an employee of Danjiang Peacock Valley (the tourist trap where the tigers were imprisoned) and escaped from an enclosure. The tigers had apparently been “on loan” from a circus in the nearby city of Suzhou in the province of Anhui, China. (Discover what a PETA investigator observed while visiting 10 circuses and animal-training facilities in Suzhou.) The employee was reportedly mauled while trying to feed the tigers. According to a local forestry bureau statement, authorities killed them “[a]fter repeated attempts to ensnare the two tigers failed.”
Escaped tigers shot dead after killing keeper at Chinese zoo https://t.co/JbhArkMdtR
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) May 25, 2021
The shootings followed a harrowingly similar incident that took place just days prior: On May 23, a 55-year-old employee of a tiger-breeding operation—also located in Anhui, the same province where the circus that loaned out the two now-dead tigers is located—was mauled by a tiger after entering the big cat’s enclosure. The employee, who was described in some reports as a “veteran” tiger breeder, apparently entered the animal’s enclosure to clean it without first making sure that the big cat’s shifting cage (the space that keepers shift a dangerous animal to so that they can safely enter the main cage) was locked. The employee sustained scratches and bites to the face, neck, and back and reportedly died after being taken to hospital.
A tiger killed a 55-year-old breeder at the Zhanggongshan Zoo in Bengbu, East #China’s #Anhui Province. According to local authorities, the breeder entered the tiger cage to clean it without ensuring that the door of the tiger isolation room was locked. pic.twitter.com/d1TzOHdYyb
— People's Daily app (@PeoplesDailyapp) May 24, 2021
None of these tigers or humans needed to die—these incidents are just more proof that exploiting tigers and other big cats is risky business as well as unethical. Warn your family, friends, and followers to stay away from shoddy operations like these.
