Tiger attack

A worker of the Seaview Predator Park was attacked and killed by a Siberian tiger on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Facebook/Seaview Predator Park

Tiger attack latest: Not first time for tiger to attack someone

The Siberian tiger had previously attacked a volunteer earlier this year while two hyenas also escaped from the Seaview Predator Park.

Tiger attack

A worker of the Seaview Predator Park was attacked and killed by a Siberian tiger on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Facebook/Seaview Predator Park

It was not the first time that the Siberian tiger named Jasper, attacked someone at the Seaview Predator Park near Gqebera. In the most recent attack, the tiger killed a worker and a tiger on Wednesday.

THE TIGER ALSO PREVIOUSLY ATTACK A VOLUNTEER

The tiger also attacked a volunteer recently while feeding him.

The park confirmed the attack but said the following:

“The so-called attack on a volunteer was due to the volunteer insisting on going in by adult Jasper as they had known him as a cub and were adamant that he would remember them.

“The volunteer was warned the tiger would not react positively and a previous employee nonetheless allowed the volunteer in.”

When asked if the volunteer was injured in the attack they responded by saying:

“Got a nail gash on the leg if I recall correctly and was definitely not life-threatening.”

PARK IS NOT BLAMING LOAD-SHEDDING FOR THE TIGER ATTACK

The park added that they were not blaming load-shedding for ‘the tiger drama’.

“We were doing routine maintenance on the electric fencing when the incident happened. Electric fencing on ALL enclosures is checked daily.

“Yesterday morning, Jasper was calm and playful and did not indicate being moody or aggressive.”

The park said while maintenance was done of the fence the Siberian tiger jumped on the exterior fence and got out.

“The worker, David Solomon, was, unfortunately, in the passageway between enclosures walking towards the water supply taps when the incident occurred.”

It furthermore stated that David attempted to climb the fence of a different enclosure to get to safety and was pulled off the fence by the tiger.

“We confirm that David obviously had bite marks but it would seem that Jasper broke David’s neck when he pulled David off the fence.”

According to the statement, the tiger then proceeded to jump the exterior fence of the next door enclosure which houses Siberian Tigers named Judah and Amber.

A fight ensued between Judah and Jasper and Judah, one of the tigers was killed.

The tigers were moved to the front row in March.

ALSO READ: Tiger attack and killed worker at the Seaview Predator Park

TWO HYENAS ALSO ESCAPED THE PARK EARLIER THIS YEAR

It is also not the first time that animals from the park had escaped.

In April this year two Hyenas escaped from the park. On of the Hyenas was shot and killed when he charged a ranger and the other Hyena was struck by a car a week or two later and killed.

“The hyena enclosure was, on discovering their escape, immediately repaired, cleaned and NEW electric fencing was put up.

“Unfortunately, constant power failures in the area do not help in maintaining a constant electric flow to the electric fencing. We now have staff on standby throughout the night to check on the electricity.”

ALSO READ: Escaped hyena dies after being struck by car in Gqeberha

PARK VISITORS WERE LEFT TRAUMATISED

According to Andelene Visagie, they were sitting nearby the tiger enclosures when they hear loud roaring from the tiger enclosure.

“We were sitting having lunch while the children were playing when we heard the roars. We could hear the tigers fighting from loud roaring that came from the direction of the enclosure. “

“The children started screaming and crying. We were all so scared.”

She said as they stood there not knowing what to do a bakkie with two rangers came around the one side.

“The next moment a bakkie traveling at a high speed came dashing around the corner. They almost drove over people still sitting on the grass.

“The driver then flung open his door and shout: Grab what you can and ran as fast as you can to your cars and lock the doors!

They said a tiger had escaped and was roaming the area.

Police are investigating the tiger attack.