Tiger attack
December 9, 2009
An animal trainer in the northern German city of Hamburg has been attacked by three tigers, it was reported Wednesday.
According to police, 28-year-old trainer Christian W. tripped during a performance at the private Hagenbeck Zoo on Tuesday night, while he was inside an enclosure with five Bengal tigers. Three of the five tigers pounced on him, clawing and biting his body.
German newspaper Bild reports that the tigers were fought off with blasts of water and put back into their cages.
Two doctors in the audience tended to the victim before the ambulance arrived and rushed him to hospital with life threatening wounds.
In a written statement, the zoo's director Stefan Pegals called the incident a "tragic accident" not a "malicious attack", and explained that the tigers had just wanted to play.
"Many trainers want to make the public believe they have a special, trusting relationship with their 'big cats'," Ursula Bauer from the organization "Animal Action" told German news agency dpa.
But, she added, "Tigers are dangerous and remain wild animals even if they were born and raised in captivity."
The accident brings back memories of an attack by a white tiger on German magician Roy Horn, of the "Siegfried and Roy" double act, in Las Vegas six years ago. Roy survived but is partially paralysed.
vj/AP/dpa
Editor. Susan Houlton