Zoo Escapers Roam Streets Of Wellington

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31323, 20 March 1967, Page 1

Zoo Escapers Roam Streets Of Wellington

(New Zealand Pres* Association)

WELLINGTON, March 19. Wellington slept while two tigers, which had escaped from the Wellington Zoo, prowled the streets this morning. After a three-hour hunt police marksmen shot both. More than 100 men, most of them armed, took part in the search.

Arrhed police were reinforced by troops, fire brigadesmen, traffic officers and trained handlers from Ashton’s Circus. They tried to capture the animals alive but were forced to shoot to kill.

Only a handful of people knew the hunt was on.

The tigers escaped through an unlocked door in their cage. “There appears to be some human element involved/’ said the chairman of the City Council’s parks and reserves committee, Cr. R. L. Archibald.

The police are investigating. The alarm was given by a 19-year-old radio technician Pad! Russell, of Newtown, soon after 1 a.m. He was going home when he saw one of the tigers standing bn the pavement near the zoo entrance. “I thought I was seeing things, but then/ the tiger came toward the car and I wound the windows up smartly. “I wasn’t game to get out and phone there and then so I high-tailed it up the road to the nearest call box.” “I think the police thought I was having them on at first and I can’t really say I blame them,” said Mr Russell. Police alerted a car nearby which quickly confirmed Mr Russell’s sighting. Police Roused Within minutes police officers were roused from their beds in Holland House, armed with .303 rifles and .32 automatic pistols, and taken to the zoo. One tiger stalked pdst more than 40 homes in lower Manchester street and Roy streets and at 1.15 a.m. stopped in front of number 35 Roy street where a party was in progress. Mr L Wilton, aged 22, of Khandallah, arrived at the party at the same time as the tiger. He burst into the house with the news that there was a five foot tiger standing outside the front gate. “Naturally enough we didn’t believe him,” said a guest at the party, Mr A. Sewell, aged 30, of Houghton Bay. “but then I saw him from a window,” he said. “He walked away a few feet and I ran out and turned on the headlights of my car so that we could keep him in sight.” Towards Car “My idea was to trail him until the police arrived. But he seemed dazzled and attracted by the lights and started walking towards the car.” “I backed off a bit and he kept following. “ I turned the car around, still going backwards and started leading him back towards the zoo gates. “lan Wilton and a few

friends got in his car and followed behind, sort of pushing the tiger along,” he said. “We kept in this odd sort of procession to the top of Roy street and then the tiger walked off across the little plot of grass and trees near the bus shelter heading towards the zoo gates. “We herded him along from behind with both cars and he walked through a small open gate beside the main zoo gates. “I closed the gates and he walked on into the zoo grounds. “We were with him for about 15 minutes all told and throughout this time he showed no signs whatever of aggressiveness. Within Feet “At one stage one of the boys walked to within a few feet of him,” said Mr Sewell. The first police arrived at the zoo soon afterwards and police marksmen from Wellington and Lower Hutt were sent into the grounds to locate the tigers, a male and a female.

The male was spotted stalking at the edge of a stand of pine trees behind the tiger and lion cages. Constable R. Meikle, of Lower Hutt, said the police were concerned that the tiger might leap the fence behind the pine trees and get into the populated area beyond. “We did not know if he was going to attack or not We had no choice but to shoot,” he said. Police continued to search

the grounds for the female. They described the atmosphere inside the grounds throughout the hunt “tense and eerie.”

Twenty-two patrol cars and 60 men cordoned off the zoo grounds. Traffic officers set up road blocks and fire brigades stood by to provide lighting. Thirty troops armed with FN rifles were rushed from Fort Dorset. Police continued to comb the area with spotlights as the search intensified for the second tiger. They spotted it in trees near the back of the zoo about half a mile from its cage. Orders were given to try to take it alive. Lighting Plant Ashton’s circus staff set up a huge portable lighting plant and made ready with a portable lion cage and catching nets. The senior keeper, Mr F. Coles, crept in close with a tranquilliser gun. (He is shown in the picture demonstrating the gun.) Mr Coles fired two darts into the animal which lay quietly. The circus handlers decided to move in with the net. They got within 20 feet when the animal came to life. It bounded over the open ground towards the group. Two police marksmen fired together and the animal dropped. Cr. Archibald praised highly the men involved in the search. “The police had no alternative but to shoot both the animals,” he said. He said the Wellington City Council would inquire for two more tigers to replace the zoo loss. The Royal Bengal tigers, both about three years old, were a gift from the Ade-

laide Zoo, and were named Napoleon and Josephine- They were bred in captivity. Their carcasses will be handed to the Dominion Museum.