Tiger shot dead after escape from zoo

A runaway tiger was shot dead on Tuesday in central Romania after escaping through her unlocked cage and then leaping over her zoo wall, local authorities said.

The tiger was shot when it tried to attack game hunters who had been trying to tranquillize it, said Mirela Gligore, a spokeswoman for the Sibiu municipality.

The female tiger had escaped from the zoo earlier in the morning after the keeper apparently left the door to her enclosure ajar.

It was first seen in a forest within the zoo but attempts to capture it failed when it managed to jump over the 1.8-metre high fence.

It then headed to the outskirts of the city and local police went from door to door, asking people not to venture outside.

It was eventually tracked down in a nearby forest and shot in the head. 

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