Escaped Tiger Shot Dead By German Police

Berlin: German police said Monday they had shot dead a tiger that escaped from an enclosure run by a woman nicknamed the "Tiger Queen" after it attacked one of the keepers.

A police spokesman told AFP that the animal had seriously injured one person, who was being treated in hospital.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon on the outskirts of the eastern city of Leipzig and involved an "escaped tiger which was killed by police using firearms," the spokesman said.

An emergency services helicopter was used during the search for the animal.

The tiger escaped from the property of a "private individual" on the outskirts of Leipzig, the spokesman said, without giving details.

According to local media, the animal escaped from the property of a tiger trainer called Carmen Zander.

Zander, known as the "Tiger Queen", has faced criticism in the past for the conditions in which the animals are kept at her enclosure..

According to Zander's website, the animal was a nine-year-old, 280-kilogram (615 pound) Bengal-Siberian mix named "Sandokan".

Zander was quoted by Bild daily as saying the animal was "a scaredy-cat" that could "quickly become overwhelmed and insecure" and could therefore attack "more quickly and unexpectedly" than the other animals.

According to Bild, the tiger reached a nearby plot of allotments before being shot by police.

One allotment gardener told the paper: "First we heard sirens and then right afterwards a helicopter came and lots of police", who warned the allotment owners to stay inside.

"Then there were suddenly several shots", she said.

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