TAIPING: A male tiger that escaped its holding area at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari has been caught some three hours after it ran out.
Zoo director Dr Kevin Lazarus said on Thursday that the incident occurred at about 12pm when the tiger rammed on the door and accidentally opened it as some renovation works was taking place.
"A new worker was doing some renovation works near the pen when it happened.
"The tiger got agitated and continuously rammed on the door and it swung open," he said, while clarifying that only one tiger that had escaped.
"We shot it with a tranquillizer but it still managed to escape and jumped over a 1.8m wall into a jungle area, near the holding pen," he added.
Dr Lazarus said the tiger was found in the jungle area where zoo workers shot it with tranquillizer again and subdued it at about 3pm.
He said this was the first time the incident had taken place.
He added that about 30 zoo staffs, Fire and Rescue department personnel and the police was involved in the search operation for the tiger.
The tiger was about 15 to 16 years of age, weights about 300kg and was 2meter long.
TAIPING: A tiger escaped from its pen at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari here on Thursday.
The incident is believed to have occurred in the morning while the gates to the zoo was still closed.
According to sources, two tigers escaped but one was caught with tranquilizers.
