A tiger escaped in a garden allotment area, causing panic among residents who called the police. The officers were not properly equipped to handle a dangerous predator. Behind the incident was Germany’s self-proclaimed “Tiger Queen” and her private collection of animals.
Over the weekend, in the eastern town of Schkeuditz near Leipzig airport, these events turned deadly for a big cat named Sandokan and left a keeper seriously injured.
On Sunday afternoon, a warm spring day when many hobby gardeners were tending to their flower beds, the tiger attacked a 72-year-old man near an enclosure owned by former tamer Carmen Zander, and then escaped.
Police were alerted by panicked neighbors. They tracked the animal to a nearby allotment area and shot it about 30 minutes after it escaped, saying they did so “to prevent danger to those present.”
Witnesses said officers climbed onto a car roof and fired three shots at the tiger, which was lying just a few meters from a small fence bordering the gardens.
“Our paradise was destroyed,” said Silvia Kaempf, 68, who has a shed in the neighboring allotment association, speaking to local media.
The keeper, who police said was in the tiger enclosure “with permission,” is reportedly still in the hospital with severe scratches and bites and cannot answer investigators’ questions.
A police spokesperson said they did not have a veterinarian or a stun gun available at the time of the escape, so they had to use lethal force to restore public order. Prosecutors said no investigation is planned against the officers who killed the animal.
However, the regional public prosecutor’s office said it has opened an investigation into possible negligent bodily harm by Zander, 52, over potential safety rule violations.
The mayor of the Dölzig district, where Zander lives with the tigers, Thomas Druskat, called for the immediate removal of the enclosure. “It’s unthinkable what could have happened if other people had been hurt,” he told the newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung.
Zander, who was not there during the attack, reportedly worked as a circus tiger tamer for 15 years but stopped touring about three years ago. She expressed shock over the week’s events and said she loves her tigers.
“This is really every animal trainer’s worst nightmare,” she told public broadcaster MDR, referring to the attack and its aftermath. She also said she was worried about her injured colleague.
Zander’s website, which was still online this week advertising “wonderful” and “unforgettable” tiger-petting events for the public, includes short biographies of each of her animals. Three tigers besides Sandokan were listed as having died in recent years.
Sandokan was a nine-year-old, 280-kilogram “majestic” Bengal-Siberian mix, but was “a scaredy-cat” that could “quickly become overwhelmed and insecure” and “be triggered more quickly and unexpectedly” than the other animals.
“That’s why I need to be extremely sensitive and empathetic when training him, so that he feels secure with me,” Zander wrote, adding that with the right treatment, Sandokan became “a lovely, cuddly chap again.”
The website said Zander had won several prizes at the Monte Carlo circus festival and featured a picture of her with Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.
However, she has faced scrutiny before over the living conditions of the animals at the enclosure in an industrial area of Schkeuditz, where she has kept tigers since 2016. The district administration office said there were eight tigers living at the facility.
A spokesperson for the office told Spiegel magazine that it had been “working for some time” on the issue.Recently, Zander was told to either follow the rules so that all animals have enough indoor and outdoor space, or reduce the number of animals to fit the space they currently have.
A spokesperson said it’s still unclear what will happen to the animals, because “no findings have been released yet about the investigation into what caused the incident.”
The German Animal Protection Association called for stronger laws to protect wild animals, including a ban in some cases.
Zander performing with one of the tigers. Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/Alamy Live News.
The animal rights group Peta, which has long criticized Zander, said veterinary authorities “share responsibility for this tragic incident” because they didn’t act against the facility sooner. Peta demanded that the remaining animals be taken away.
Yvonne Würz, a Peta adviser on zoos and circuses, criticized how Zander kept the big cats. She told local media: “The tigers are stuck in a tiny space in their enclosure, in bare metal cages, and are denied everything that would give them a proper life for a tiger.”
Zander insisted that her enclosure offered better conditions than what tigers usually experience in captivity. “The difference compared to a zoo is that my animals are always together, and I don’t keep them in solitary confinement,” she said.
Zander relies on donations and help from friends to care for the tigers.
She said she dreamed of having her own tiger park, partly to raise awareness about the endangered species, and wondered why animal rights activists weren’t interested in finding a good solution for the tigers with her as their keeper.
If the animals were taken away from her, she said, they would be emotionally devastated. “They would become apathetic and refuse to eat. They would call out for me for days, withdraw into themselves, and die.”
Zander did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the escaped big cat owned by Germanys Tiger Queen written in a natural clear tone
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What exactly happened with the Tiger Queens cat
A big catlikely a lion tiger or ligerescaped from its enclosure at a private property in a small German town The owner is a woman known as the Tiger Queen for keeping exotic animals
2 Was anyone hurt
No The cat was found and captured quickly without anyone being injured It did not attack anyone
3 Where did this happen
It happened in the town of Grlitz in eastern Germany near the border with Poland
4 How did the cat get out
Initial reports suggest the cat may have broken through a fence or gate that wasnt secure enough An investigation is ongoing
5 Is the Tiger Queen in trouble
Yes Local authorities are investigating her for potential violations of animal welfare and public safety laws She may face fines or lose her license to keep exotic animals
IntermediateLevel Questions
6 Who is the Tiger Queen
She is a German woman named name not widely released for privacy reasons who runs a private exotic animal sanctuary She has been in the news before for keeping lions tigers and ligers in her backyard which is controversial
7 What kind of big cat was it
Reports initially said a lioness but later confirmed it was a liger Ligers are the largest of all big cats
8 How did the police catch a liger
They used a combination of drones with thermal cameras to track it then sedated it with a dart from a safe distance A veterinarian was on site
9 Why is this a big deal for a small town
A liger is a massive powerful predator Its escape caused panic forced a local lockdown and shut down roads and a nearby highway
10 What happens to the cat now
The liger is back in its enclosure but authorities may order it to be moved to a licensed zoo or sanctuary where security is much higher
Advanced Practical Questions
