Rare Sumatran Tiger Killed at Florida Zoo
Date: 24-Aug-06
Country: US
Enshala, a 180-pound (81 kg) female tiger, was being put into her night house when she slipped past an unlocked latch and headed toward a public area on Tuesday. A veterinarian shot Enshala with a tranquilizer dart but she then charged at him, and zoo president Lex Salisbury killed her with a shotgun.
"I feel sick to my stomach," Salisbury, head of the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, told the St. Petersburg Times. He said he felt he had to shoot to protect the veterinarian.
Sumatran tigers are found in the wild only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where fewer than 500 remain, according to the World Wildlife Federation.
Enshala was born at the zoo 15 years ago. The zoo has one other Sumatran tiger, a 5-year-old male named Eric.