- Sheba, the tiger who escaped from her enclosure in south Johannesburg over the weekend, was spotted at a water hole in the Walker’s Fruit Farms area near Midvaal.
- This after search teams sent out a thermal imaging drone.
- On Monday night, the team said it would place a corpse with tranquilizing drugs near the site in hopes of capturing her safely.
Sheba, an 8-year-old tigress who escaped from her enclosure in a plot in south Johannesburg, was seen near a water hole in the Walker’s Fruit Farms area, near Midvaal, on Monday night.
This after search teams sent out a thermal imaging drone. She escaped Saturday night after the fence around her compound was tampered with and cut.
Gresham Mandy, of the local community policing forum, said a tracking team saw fresh paw prints around the hole.
“They also smelled it, so it was very close,” he said.
But because the bush around the waterhole was too thick, making it dangerous for them to enter, they opted to place a cut corpse with tranquilizing medicine instead. The hope is that he eats the corpse and falls asleep.
“It will be easy for the team to move in and maybe shoot her too, if necessary, and then capture her,” Mandy explained.
I was hopeful that the operation would yield positive results.
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She was later seen at her home when she “grabbed some meat that was left outside the door and ran off.”
Once captured, Sheba will be relocated to a nearby big cat sanctuary. Her male partner had already been released and relocated to the shelter on Sunday.
Since her escape, Sheba has attacked a 39-year-old man, a pig and two dogs. Both dogs had to be euthanized due to the severity of their injuries, Mandy told News24 on the sidelines of the search operation on Monday.
The 39-year-old is expected to make a full recovery.
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Mandy said there were no leads yet as to who might have cut the fence.
“It happens in this area, especially in rural … and agricultural areas where suspects or perpetrators cut through fences to gain access to properties and use them as a quick exit when they break in to rob or break into the house,” Mandy said.
He said the first option would be to tranquilize the tiger so it could be captured and relocated. Ground teams were limiting foot patrols as Sheba was considered too dangerous and they did not want to corner her.
“If he becomes a danger and tries to attack someone again, then he’s probably going to have to be shot.”
