Cape Town – “Voetsek!” is what a Gauteng woman remembers shouting when she came face-to-face with Sheba, the tigress after it attacked her neighbour.
This was after police warned residents to remain alert after a tiger escaped from a private farm enclosure in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg on Saturday after the fence was cut, police said.
“The community members were urged to be on alert after a tiger escaped from a smallholding at Kliprivier area on Saturday, 14 January 2023.
“It is reported that the tiger escaped from its cage and attacked a 39-year-old man and a dog in the area,” said police spokesperson, Colonel Dimakatso Sello in a statement on Sunday.
Sello warned members of the public not to approach the animal for their own safety instead contact the Crime Stop Line 08600 10111.
An eight-year-old tigress named Sheba remains on the loose in the Walker’s Fruit Farm, Midvaal area, south of Johannesburg. She attacked two dogs, killing one, while another (pictured) had to be euthanized. She also attacked a man in his thirties on Saturday night. @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/wlkQbS4Qrs
— Orrin Singh (@orrin417) January 16, 2023
Flora Maseko recalled she heard her neighbour William Mokoena crying out for help after he was attacked by the female tiger on Saturday night, reported TimesLIVE.
The report said Maseko and her partner found Mokoena on the ground. He had been bitten on his leg and right thigh.
He was taken to hospital, however, the tigress returned to Maseko’s home where it attacked her brother’s dogs, the report said.
Maseko said she heard the dog yelping and they went outside with torches.
“I was gripped by fear and began shouting ‘Voetsek!’,” Maseko was quoted saying in the report.
According to Maseko, the dog was put down due to its injuries, the report said.
Gresham Mandy, of the Walkerville Community Police Forum said Sheba returned to her enclosure but soon after escaped through a fence that had been cut, reported the Sowetan.
“We have an understanding of where she is but it is not safe for anyone to proceed on foot into that area,” Mandy was quoted as saying in the report.
A team was trying to safely dart, capture and relocate Sheba to a big cat sanctuary rather than kill her, which remained the last resort, the report said.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
