Pretoria - Executive Mayor of Midvaal Local Municipality, Peter Teixeira said given the ongoing efforts and the massive cooperation, the missing tigress, named Sheba, would be captured before the end of today.
“I am very happy with all the role-players that are present. We have the Community Policing Forum (CPF), the SPCA, we have got nature conservation guys that are here, we have the SAPS search and rescue team, the municipality, a number of stakeholders and everybody has been putting in a lot of time to try and capture this animal very safe,” Teixeira spoke to Newzroom Afrika.
“Yes, I am very confident that by this evening we would have captured the animal, because we know where it is, and we are containing it in this particular space so that it doesn’t go out and endanger the lives of people out there.
“It has already injured one person, and that person is still in hospital. So yes, it will be captured. I am quite confident that by this evening we should have captured it,” he said.
The executive mayor also promised to visit the man who was mauled by the tiger. He expressed concern over people keeping dangerous animals at their homes.
“Obviously we need to tighten up on the legislation, provincially and nationally, even from a local municipality point of view. We are already looking at strengthening our by-laws to actually deal with such, and ensure that we prevent such from happening,” he told the broadcaster.
“I think there’s got to be laws that guide the keeping of wild animals, because we have all seen in the last three days how difficult it is to actually capture an animal when it does escape. It’s not like your domestic pet that you can easily call and ask it to come, and go back into its enclosure.
“This is an animal which is very wild but I am happy the team has managed to contain the animal so we know where it is, and it is not very far from its enclosure,” he said.
The tigress which is on the loose after escaping from a property in the Walkerville area, south of Joburg, came back to the property where it was kept, but left before it could be captured in the early hours of today.
“Yes, she returned to the camp this morning at 4am, according to the owner. She (tiger) returned but she escaped before they could close her in,” Gresham Mandy, of the Walkerville CPF told IOL.
The search is still ongoing, with the tracking teams stating that they know the area where the big cat is.
A 37-year-old man was hospitalised over the weekend after being attacked by the animal. The man’s dog was killed by the feline.
Mandy has previously told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that the search had resumed with “quite a few drones” and boosted by a police helicopter supporting the teams searching for the tiger.
“As of yet, we still haven’t found her. We still do not have leads on where she could be, so we are going on whatever is coming out there with regards to where she could be,” he said.
He said several animals had been attacked by the tiger.
“From what we know, she killed a dog on Saturday. She killed a fallow deer, not a reindeer. What happened yesterday (Sunday); she killed a pig. She didn’t eat the pig. She killed the pig, and she left that pig.
“Obviously, she also attacked that male, the 39-year-old (man) that is in hospital at the moment.
“She has attacked two dogs. The one wasn’t killed immediately. It had to be euthanised by the NSPCA. This is what has been uncovered so far,” said Mandy.
He said that without creating panic, residents in the area should be vigilant.
IOL