Bengal tigers attacked a tourist van in east China's city of Jinan last Saturday, puncturing the vehicle's tires and breaking its windshield, safari officials and witnesses said Tuesday.

Bengal tigers attacked a tourist van in Jinan last Saturday, puncturing the vehicle's tires and breaking its windshield. [gucheng.com]

The incident occurred in a tiger park at Jinan Wildlife World, a local tourism attraction. The attack ended when the van's driver sped into an emergency exit opened by park officials. None of the 27 people on board the vehicle were harmed.

Tourists complained that it took nearly 10 minutes for park officials to respond, long enough for the tigers to jump on the vehicle and destroy its windshield. The van's driver prevented the animals from entering through the broken windshield by positioning the front of the vehicle against nearby safety railings.

"We are deeply sorry for the accident," said Wu Yanfei, deputy manager of Jinan Wildlife World, adding that the official in charge of the tiger park was away for lunch when the attack occurred.

He said that although the windshield is designed to withstand animal attacks, the tigers managed to bite off a piece of equipment used to hold the windshield in place, leaving the tourists vulnerable to attack.

Wu said an investigation has been launched and the park has compensated the tourists involved in the incident.

Jinan Wildlife World is located about 40 km away from Jinan and is home to more than 10,000 wild animals, including over 100 Asian tigers.

The attack is one of several incidents involving captive tigers in China over the last few years. Last December, a nine-year-old female Siberian tiger escaped from a zoo and entered a public park in the city of Hefei before being shot by armed police.

In another incident, a Bengal tiger killed a zookeeper while escaping from its cage in a Shanghai zoo in 2010.

Related

• Tigers trap tourist bus in Jinan
• Sharks come up short against Xinjiang Tigers
• Siberian tigers receive increased visitors
• 40 Sumatran tigers die in Indonesia last year

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)