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Posted on 09/29/2002 1:41:02 PM PDT by Willie Green
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) — A 400-pound Bengal tiger escaped from its owner's trailer and hid in shrubbery just outside a residential neighborhood for about eight hours before police shot and killed it.
Residents had been warned to stay indoors Saturday morning while police and zoo experts tried to capture the tiger using tranquilizer darts.
They fired four darts but failed to hit the tiger and ended up shooting it when it tried to sneak away from the area where officers had it cornered, Bloomington Police spokesman Duane Moss said.
``It's not the way we wanted it to happen. I could only guess that the officers had little choice,'' Moss said.
The tiger had escaped from the trailer at a truck stop around 5 a.m. and hid for most of the afternoon near a six-foot high fence line just beyond homes. Police shot it when it started toward a truck on which two Illinois Conservation Officers were standing.
Police said the escaped tiger belonged to a Texas woman who was convicted in Illinois of endangering a child after the tiger bit a young girl. Mary Jeane Williams, 44, had been ordered by a judge on Thursday to remove the tiger from the state.
She has not been charged in connection with the tiger's escape Saturday.
Bloomington, about 135 miles southwest of Chicago, is home to Illinois State University.
Probably watched the "Animal Planet" channel 24/7.
The police quickly cordoned off a one square mile area but were unable to spot the cat in the dense brush and trees, even with the help of a chopper. Around 2pm, a bloodhound had been brought in and was tracking the tiger when a loud roar sent the dog scrambling out of the bush.
Two of the four tranq darts hit the cat (the two misses were blamed on a malfunctioning dart gun) but did not have any effect other than perturbing him into suddenly making a move towards the DOC truck where two conservation officers were stationed. Two quick shots, one a fatal head shot, cooled the tiger's sh!t.
A picture from the local paper this morning showed the means of transport. It was a single axle low profile livestock trailer pulled by a Chevy 4-dr pickup. The woman and her son stopped at the truck stop for coffee and the son decided to feed and water the tiger. The water bowl didn't fit thru the slot so the kid opened the gate and the tiger shot past him. One witness in the restaurant said as the tiger made his move, the kid made a grab for the tiger's collar and tail!
There were five police agencies, two fire departments, and a state police chopper used in this hunt which lasted from 6am to 2pm. Certainly hope the ex-tiger's owners get the bill!
The inadequate means used in tranporting and handling this animal demonstrates why private ownership of exotic animals should be seriously questioned.
Would you argue with a 400 pound tiger?
a.cricket
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