Tiger escapes, kills keeper in German zoo

A tiger cub is accompanied by its mother Hanya as they explore their outdoor enclosure at a zoo in Cologne, Germany in this February 9, 2012 file photo. / ROLF VENNENBERND/AFP/Getty Images

(AP) BERLIN - A tiger escaped its enclosure at Cologne Zoo in western Germany on Saturday and killed a female keeper before being shot dead by the zoo's director, police said.

The tiger managed to get from the enclosure to an adjacent storage building, where it attacked the 43-year-old keeper, said police spokesman Stefan Kirchner.

"It appears the gate wasn't properly shut," Kirchner told The Associated Press.

The zoo's director used a rifle to shoot the animal dead through the storage building's skylight before it could make its way to the visitor areas, he added.

Kirchner said it was unlikely that members of the public had witnessed the incident which occurred around noon (1000 GMT) Saturday.

[DWileyOne]

And ... because of human carelessness, one perfectly good tiger is dead for doing exactly what it was born to do. Question: shouldn't the zoo have non-lethal procedures in place for re-capturing animals that get loose?

[formerlyluvnut]

Agreed. As much as I like the animals & watching them I imagine I would be pretty grumpy about being caged all my life and would take it out on my captors given the chance as well. BUT, humans are the most intelligent species of life on Earth; so says humans anyway.

[sickofbull]

Easy peasy: close the zoos! Don't have them at all.

[MIO42]

A tiger escaped !
Flash......... The animal is not stupid...........and ps. ............
They are dangerous ...................