Two Tigers Attack Zookeeper and Escape at Indonesian Zoo... One Eventually Shot Dead

Sumatra tiger stock photo
[EPA=Yonhap News][Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Two endangered Sumatran tigers escaped from a zoo in the Indonesian part of Borneo Island but were recaptured. During this incident, a zookeeper died, one tiger was shot dead, and the other was captured alive.

According to foreign media including the daily Kompas on the 7th, at around 2 p.m. on the 5th, two female tigers aged 2 years and 18 months respectively escaped from the 'Singka Zoo' in Singkawang City, West Kalimantan, on Borneo Island.

During the attempt to prevent their escape, a 47-year-old zookeeper died, and near the tiger enclosure, the carcasses of ostriches, monkeys, and cassowaries were also found.

The tigers reportedly escaped through a hole that formed in the enclosure after heavy rain caused landslides and damaged the tiger habitat over several days.

The body of the tiger Eka shot dead by the police
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The police immediately sealed off the surrounding villages and issued a stay-at-home order to residents. They also deployed drones along with zoo staff to track the two tigers.

After tracking, on the morning of the 6th, the police found a tiger named Eka and fired a tranquilizer gun, but the tiger resisted, causing the shots to miss several times before they shot live rounds and killed it.

At around 5:30 p.m. the same day, they found the other tiger, Tora, and successfully captured it alive by shooting a tranquilizer dart.

A police official stated, "We would have preferred to capture Eka alive, but human lives are more important, so it was unavoidable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.