The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) on Sunday witnessed some tense moments when a tiger jumped out of its enclosure and scaled the wall.
However, alert guards cornered the tiger in the crawl area before it was tranquilised and taken back to its enclosure.
An eyewitness told Deccan Chronicle that the tiger tried to escape when it was about to be shifted to a treatment room for which it was being taken in a cage.
“The cage had no top cover as the tiger was still within the metal barriers in the crawl areas. The moment the tiger was brought in the open, it jumped outside the cage and used the cage to scale the wall.
Two other guards, who were present in the crawl area, ran for their lives and, at the same time, other guards kept the tiger’s attention engaged. After the tiger was confined to the crawl area, it was tranquilised,” the witness said.
The escape of the tiger could have created havoc in the safari area and surroundings. The enclosures of lions and white tigers are located right next to the wall that the tiger scaled.
If the animal had entered a different enclosure it could have led to in-fighting. Luckily, a safari bus had made its rounds just minutes before the incident at the Appaiah enclosure of the tiger safari area inside the BBP.
Playing down incident, Park Executive Director Dr R. Raju said it was a “minor” incident and the animal has been taken back to its den.
“After jumping out of the cage, the tiger entered the crawl area, which has a metal protection. We will not take any such risks of transferring tigers for treatment without any precautions,” Dr Raju said.
Animal experts, however, have cautioned Zoo authorities to have a roof-top mesh for tiger enclosures. “Even though the tigers are in the zoo, their wild instincts will never die.
Unless the enclosure is fool-proof and a trench dug on all the sides, no animal keeper should be allowed to go near,” said an animal welfare activist of CUPA.