The animal, which killed several dogs and a doe, was sought by dozens of police officers, militants for nature and neighbors, helped by drones and helicopters.
MO12345LEMONDE with AFP
She was slaughtered after having killed again: Sheba, a guard kept as a pet, who had escaped her owner and had prowled for four days near Johannesburg, was “eliminated”, Wednesday, January 18, after a new Attack on a dog. “We had no choice but to eliminate it” because “she killed a dog on an exploitation where six families live” and “the danger had become too large,” Mandy Gresham told AFP , a representative of the local community who participated in research.
The 8 -year -old Bengal Tigress had already attacked a 39 -year -old man, who survived, and killed other dogs and a doe. She was wanted by several dozen police officers, militants for nature and neighbors, helped by drones and helicopters. The big feline managed to get out of his enclosure on Saturday, after an unknown cut the fence of private property about thirty kilometers from Johannesburg, an economic capital located in the most populous province in the country.
In South Africa, it is forbidden to have a lion as a domestic animal, but the tigers are authorized, to the chagrin of animal protection organizations, which demand a new law. Legislation prohibits the detention of native species; And the tiger, which is not endemic in South Africa, is considered an exotic animal. “Keeping a tiger as a pet is simply cruelty towards animals,” deplored with AFP Smaragda Louw, director of the NGO Ban Animal Trading.
black skins market and OS
In recent years, tiger farms have multiplied inside the country, nourishing the lucrative sales of sales with zoos. But breeding also feeds the black skins and bone market, especially prized in Asia for luxury products and in traditional medicine, denounce NGOs. “We ask the authorities to end the breeding of tigers, because if it was prohibited, all this would not happen,” said Elize Parker, of the animal defense NGO, regretting the death of Sheba.
South Africa is also known to authorize the controversial farming of lions intended to satisfy rich hunters of trophies. The country does not have an official census of its tiger population, but according to Four Paws, almost 10 % of the world’s population (359 specimens) were exported from South Africa between 2011 and 2020.