AR-News: LONDON, ONT tiger attack

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Toronto boy, 10, mauled by Siberian tiger

LONDON, ONT.^×A 10-year  old Toronto boy is in hospital after being
attacked yesterday by a  160-kilogram Siberian tiger that was led out
of its cage on a leash so the  child could take its picture.

The boy is in a London hospital with  serious neck and head injuries
but they do not appear to be life-threatening,  police said yesterday.

The boy and his family were visiting a private  residence yesterday
near Shedden, southwest of London.

The owner of  the residence was showing the visitors his Siberian
tiger, and the  unidentified boy was taking pictures for a school
project.

The owner  led the tiger out of its cage on a leash to give the
youngster and his two  siblings a closer look, police said.

The tiger lunged forward and the  owner, who police said was standing
on a rock, lost his balance.

The  boy turned to run and was attacked in the back of the head and
neck,  suffering injuries that sent him to Children's Hospital of
Western Ontario in  London.

"It's beyond me why parents let their children so close to  these
unpredictable, wild things," said OPP Constable Jennifer  Wilks.

"Wild animals are wild animals."

"My last report was that  they don't think it's life-threatening but
quite serious," Wilks said of his  injuries.

Siberian tigers should never be let out of their cages, said  one area
animal handler.

"You don't go in with a cat. You don't let  the cat out of its cage
once it's older than one," said Shirley McElroy,  owner of
Lickety-Split Ranch in London.

McElroy owns two similar  tigers.

"They're the same as a human being," she said.

"A human  being can see red and all of a sudden do something they don't
want  to.

"As long as it's caged, no one gets hurt."

The tiger's owner,  identified by police as Norm Buwalda, isn't facing
any charges, Wilks said  yesterday.

He has owned the tiger for years, McElroy said.

There  are as many as five exotic tiger-type animals at the Southwold
property,  police said, but it isn't a zoo.

CANADIAN  PRESS


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