Taking advantage of the caretaker’s negligence, two circus tigers attacked him and fled. However, they were shot.
According to Xinhua, Mr. Jia – a zookeeper in a circus located in a tourist destination near Nanyang City, Henan Province – was attacked by two tigers while taking care of them on May 23. As Jia was cleaning the cage and feeding the two tigers, they suddenly lost control, knocked him over and bit the victim. After the attack, the two tigers quickly escaped from the cage.
Jia was rushed to the emergency room with numerous injuries and died in hospital. According to local media, Jia worked for many years at the zoo and knows the animals very well. However, he neglected to leave the tiger cage door unlocked when the incident occurred.
After the tigers escaped, local authorities urgently evacuated the residents and started a search. They prepared tranquilizer chicken to trap the two tigers in the hopes of catching them alive, but those efforts were unsuccessful. As a result, authorities were forced to shoot the two tigers on the afternoon of May 25 when they were discovered.
This is one of the latest recent animal attacks on people in China. On the same day, May 23, an animal keeper at a zoo in Anhui Province was also bitten to death by a tiger. Earlier this month, three leopards escaped from Hangzhou Safari Park but were hidden by the park, without telling the public.
Until discovered, the park said it delayed the public statement to avoid confusion, but was criticized by netizens not only for letting dangerous animals escape. , but also for not having deliberately signaled in time, dangerous for the population.
Now two of the three leopards have been recaptured. However, the last leopard is still being searched and people living near the zoo are being warned not to go outside for their safety.
