26th May, 2021
Two zookeepers in China have been killed by tigers at separate zoos in the country, according to local media.
CCTN reports on Tuesday that the first incident happened on Sunday to a 55-year-old keeper named Yang.
He was mauled to death by a tiger as he cleaned its cage at a zoo in eastern Anhui province.
Before the incident, Yang had been a tiger handler at the Zhanggongshan Zoo in Bengbu for nearly two decades.
Most recently, police on Tuesday shot two tigers dead after they mauled a zookeeper during feeding time and escaped from their enclosure at a park in central Henan province.
The keeper, Jia, was hospitalised and later died of his injuries.
Authorities at Danjiang Peacock Valley, Xichuan County, evacuated guests and staff while police and forestry workers were called to the scene.
Attempts to anesthetize or trap the animals were unsuccessful.
Fearing the tigers would make it into the dense forest near the park, where they could pose a danger to local residents, police decided to shoot them.
The tiger attacks also come weeks after three leopards escaped a park in Hangzhou.
Two of the leopards were caught but one remains on the loose, but it is presumed dead.