Bengal Tiger just killed

[JustJo]

For the past several days authorities have been searching for a large cat that was roaming around by the Ronald Reagan library up north. It just came on the news that it was a 600 lb. Bengal tiger and they KILLED it! I have been looking for an answer why on the Internet but haven't found anything yet. if anyone hears of why they killed the tiger please post. I don't know why they had to kill a rare and endangered cat. It was so sad watching the news and seeing the dead tiger being airlifted out of there. :(

Jo

[Amanda]

How sad. :( Why couldn't they have tranqualized the tiger and then relocated him? This is really sad.

[JustJo]

That's what I'm trying to find out. Why couldn't they have tranquilized it? It just better be a very legitimate reason. The tiger must have been someone's pet but no one reported a tiger missing. I thought it would turn out to be a very large mountain lion and was fearful for it because it seems that in California they ALWAYS kill the mountain lions that roam too close to suburbia and never seem to make the effort to relocate them. That is terrible enough but Bengal tigers are very endangered and rare from my understanding and it seems like such a preventable loss to me.

Jo

[John Olexa]

How sad. :( Why couldn't they have tranqualized the tiger and then relocated him? This is really sad.

They will say didn't have time, posed a hazzard to the public, it attacked, bla, bla,

Something like this happen a while back, forgot the state but the person who shot the tiger had his name in the paper, and got all kinds of death threats

the department that he worked for got death threats, It's wasn't the police, can't remember who right now. But for the next few days none wore there uniforms!

Haven't been able to find out anything yet either.

[John Olexa]

here is the story :(

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/023205_nw_big_cat.html

[d_broncochic]

I can afford a large cat like this, but dont love it any more than my money, so i just let it roam and not even notice it missing....oh well, just get me another one.

Some people are jerks!

[JustJo]

Well, John you were right again. This was just posted on the LA Times site:

An elusive tiger that prowled through Ventura County near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was killed this morning in Moorpark, but its origin remains a mystery.

The tiger, weighing between 400 to 600 pounds, was sighted walking behind the houses and through the ravines around Highway 23. Nearby is Miller Park, with well-used soccer fields.

According to Troy Swauger, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game, the tiger was spotted about 6:30 a.m., walking through the yard of the Tucker family.

"It was old and tired-looking. It was walking along our fence and then went to our next-door neighbor's yard," Mary Tucker said.

"It was just a weird thing to see him in our backyard," husband Ken Tucker said.

Authorities were called and fired four shots at the big cat. It was not known how many hit the animal, Swauger said.

Some critics questioned why the tiger was killed and not tranquilized.

"With all this time to track it and all these options they could draw on, you have to ask the question, was it really necessary to kill the tiger?" asked Madeline Bernstein, president of the Los Angeles branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Swauger defended the shooting.

"If the cat got out of the area, there's no telling what could have happened," he said. "Using a tranquilizer gun was an option that was available, but the safety of residents and motorists was of great concern."

I'm just not buying it. That tiger was wandering through that whole area for 8 days. I think they could have tranquilized it and watched closely to see if the tiger was going to approach anyone. If it appear to put anyone in immediate danger THEN maybe they would have to shoot it. Just seems like a horrible waste to me.

[John Olexa]

They could have tried to tranquilize the cat, and if worst came to worst then shoot it but they didn't even try. guess they weren't smart enough to think of that. :mad:
Fax, write or call and ask why they didn't at least TRY to tranquilize the cat first & have someone ready just in case.
DFG Headquarters
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: (916) 445-0411
Fax: (916) 653-1856
Executive Office - Director, Ryan Broddrick

[Magnum]

I agree Jo...Why didn't they try to tranquilize it first. Eight days on it's own, no incident reported in that time, and they were worried after it looked old and tired that it would cause a problem? I bet the owner of the cat didn't report it because they were worried they would be fined. They probably thought that it would get captured and sent to a sanctuary. Pretty sad. :(

[Magnum]

Thanks John for the contact information. Mine will be on it's way shortly. :mad:

[kwitty]

That is crazy! That makes me mad, mad, mad! Ditto what everyone said. They should have tranquillized it. Makes me sick. That beautiful Tiger. I bet they were just too lazy to deal with a tranquilized Tiger & find a location for it to live. They probably thought it was easier to just shoot it & deal with the body. No regard for life. Makes me sick. :mad:

[John Olexa]

Good , The more who send, even a fax, the better. It won't do any good but will at least bug the heck out of them for a while, thats all we can do.

Heres my fax Short & Sweet:
"They could have tried to tranquilize the cat, and if worst came to worst then have someone nearby ready to shoot. But they didn't even try. Guess they weren't smart enough to think of that.! What a sad, sad shame"

[JustJo]

Thanks for the contact info John. I am writing a snail mail letter and am also going to fax it to boot. This story has really upset me today. I know horrible things go on all the time but this just really fries me. What a waste of such a beautiful animal. I don't believe that anyone was in immediate danger so to kill the tiger was was just downright WRONG!! :mad:

[Millimi]

That's really stupid that they had to kill the tiger. Seriously, if they had tranquilized it and removed it, how would it have been a danger to the people? :(

[crystal]

That is whats wrong with the world today.
no one takes time to think out a plan. :(

[Sasami]

That's cruel and sad :(.

[Suzy03]

This was a poor, old, tired tiger. Probably looking for a drink and some kitty food and instead he gets shot. For shame, for shame, for shame....well, let me get started on my own letter to send to these crap shooters. They all need to be sent back to kindergarten to read the Lion and the Mouse. :(

[riana]

This is such a shame. We have a Leopard here in Hermanus. Several people has come face to face with it. She has a little cub with her and even then she never shown any aggression what so ever. Still people want it shot. Nature Conservation is not prepared to shoot it. She's not bothering anyone they would rather tranquilize her and take her somewhere save. We are just worried that people are going to take action into their own hands. With the shooting of a baboon just a few weeks ago, authorities are looking into capturing her and the cub. They would be released at a nearby Game Reserve.

I just can't understand why they did'nt tranquilized the tiger first. My husband does these kind of things all the time and then they have a vet and someone with a gun (if something goes wrong) on standby. They never had a reason to shoot the animal.

These kind of action just makes me sick!!

[Amanda]

Kwitty, I agree with you. They were probably just too lazy to do anything else than shoot the poor tiger. I guess it's easier to dispose of the body rather than try to find a place where they can relocate the tiger. Or just like John said, maybe they just didn't have the brains to think of an alternate solution other than shooting.

John: Thanks for the contact info. I'm going to write my letter now and fax it to them. I know our letters won't bring this poor tiger back, but I hope that our letters will help others in the future.

[kwitty]

They keep showing that poor Tiger being airlifted on the news over & over and I'm so disgusted. What a beautiful creature. They have had all these different spokes people on defending what they did, that they were protecting the people. I don't buy it. He wasn't doing anything agressive, but just wandering around looking tired. They should have fed it and tranquilized it. It could have eaten while the tranquilizer was taking effect. I bet these idiots were just concerned about being sued, just in the remote chance that somthing could have happened. I am still really upset about it.

[JustJo]

Here in San Diego the story is changing now. Previously the authorities were quoted as saying they DID have the option to tranquilize the tiger but chose to shoot it instead because of the possibility of danger to people in the area. Now they are saying there was no other option but to shoot the tiger. I think they are working on damage control because of all the phone calls, faxes, and letters.

In addition, they now think that the tiger was in the area for up to 3 weeks and no one knew it. This tiger was obviously someone's pet and was not aggressive towards any people or animals in that area for up to 3 weeks! Surely they could have spared the 5 minutes it would have taken for a tranquilizer to take effect. Let's see - 3 weeks vs 5 minutes...Hmmmm.

The big hunt is now on for the owner. That is their major priority now.

[Magnum]

Didn't they say something about moving some big cats from that area about 3 weeks ago and they were supposed to be all accounted for? I wonder if that cat was unaccounted for and they are not confessing to it.

[John Olexa]

I tried to fax a letter today and it wouldn't work.
Thats ok I'll just mail it, they ain't getting off that easy

[kwitty]

John, they shouldn't! Did someone say 3 weeks! I heard on the news 1 week. They probably never had any intentions of tranquilizing and trying to capture it.

[Magnum]

I tried to fax a letter today and it wouldn't work.
Thats ok I'll just mail it, they ain't getting off that easy

I had to do the same thing. I tried to fax the other day and it kept retrying. I told the night guy here to let it keep trying and to not cancel it. It never went through. Had to snail mail it! :rolleyes:

[JustJo]

In L.A. Times today: Last night a candlelight vigil was held in Moorpark for the tiger that was killed. It was held at Miller Park, the soccer field near where the tiger was shot. Residents gathered signatures for a no-kill law as well as money for a memorial to the tiger.

These are the people that were so in danger!! This is how the public feels about what the Fish and Game Department did. These people didn't want the tiger killed and they are furious that it was. There are several letters to the editor in today's L.A. Times, many from the "endangered" residents, that are absolutely LIVID at the unnecessary killing of this poor tiger. I hope they keep coming and that it leads to new laws in dealing with this sort of situation.

To quote one letter: "This is California, not some Third World village, and this tired old cat was not mauling children down at the river. Please don't try and tell me that it wasn't possible to have this end with the tiger tranquilized and on it's way to a preserve or zoo. As it appears, they never had any intention to tranquilize."

Keep 'em coming people...I want those jerks to hear it and to change their attitude about killing cats and bears in this state.

[Popcorn Park]

Same thing happened here in New Jersey, in Jan of 1999. It’s a long story I’ll try to make it brief. A woman in Jackson N.J. had 24 tigers, she started out in the late 70's with 5, she had a theatrical permit (using animals for commercials, tv etc.). You can find the long history here http://www.susanorlean.com/articles/lady_and_tigers.html Myself and our veterinarian were called in with our tranquillizing equipment along with another team from a safari park. The first team, the vet and director from the safari park had already been there earlier in the day and confirmed that the tracks and the sightings were legitimate. The four of us have known each other for over 20 years and all of us have worked with tigers for the better part of our lives. We were stationed in two different areas and waited to be called in when the opportunity was there to tranquilize the tiger. The first team was called in at one point but because of the heavy brush the team asked to be moved to a better position, but that was denied and they were told to take the shot, darts are a lot slower and more fragile than bullets. The dart hit some brush and apparently never hit the animal. That team was escorted back to their area to wait. Now, the four people who have the most knowledge of tigers, how they act under stress, can anticipate their reactions, their flight distance, their habits and have worked with, tranquilized, moved and have had experience with escaped animals were sitting in their vehicles waiting while police and fish and game officers with very little knowledge of tigers planned on how best to handle the situation. It was dark now at about 8:30 as myself and the veterinarian sat in the truck and heard the shots and saw the flash of gunfire about 200 yards from where we sat.. It’s hard to explain to you the feelings we had at that moment. That sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, and that numb feeling all over. They knew what they were going to do the minute that the sightings were confirmed. We must have been there for show because they never intended to use our expertises. What a needless waste of an animals life.. This story from Cal. just brings back that same sick feeling ... john

[Magnum]

OMGosh John, I can only imagine the feeling you had in your heart and gut when you heard that. :( Morons with guns....great combination. :mad: