German police shoot and kill tiger after it injured handler and escaped private zoo

POLICE IN GERMANY have shot dead a tiger that had injured an elderly handler and escaped from a private zoo in the eastern city of Leipzig.

The tiger escaped from a private facility owned by controversial trainer Carmen Zander, who describes herself as Germany’s “Tiger Queen”. 

German media reported the big cat had injured a 73-year-old man inside its enclosure before fleeing the complex. The man was taken to hospital for treatment. 

The tiger was on the loose for around 30 minutes, according to German newspaper Bild, before police shot and killed it to protect the public. 

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Police said no other tigers had escaped. 

The facility’s owner, who used to take tigers on tour performing in shows around Europe before settling on the outskirts of Leipzig with eight of the animals, has faced criticism and legal challenges over the conditions in the enclosure, according to the Zeit newspaper. 

Thomas Druskat, the mayor of Dölzig, has called for the removal of the animals from the complex.

“The enclosure has to go,” he told the Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper.

“It’s unthinkable what might have happened if other people had been injured.”

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