Pet tiger killed and taken from Vietnam farm

A three-year-old tiger was killed and taken away from Dong Tam Snake farm of southern Tien Giang province in the rain Thursday night.

The incident was uncovered when the guards found the cage splashed with blood and entrails the next morning.

A police official confirmed the thieves were professionals that knew wild animals well, and used a wooden raft to escape across a lake near the farm.

They had taken out the entrails for fear that the chloroform used to put the tiger down would infiltrate the bones and degrade the quality of the bone gelatin, he said.

Nguyen Quang Khai, deputy director of the farm was surprised at the loss of the tiger, which was purchased 6 months ago.

He said that he there has had some petty burglaries, but he never thought that someone would take the tiger away.

The tiger was formerly owned by a retired general, who tamed it as a newborn.

The animal was so gentle that it was often taken for a walk on streets by the general and could ‘shake hands’.

His family sold the tiger back to the farm for VND350 million after the general passed away. The tiger could not eat the raw meat, but only meat gruel, ground vegetables and milk.

He believed that the perpetrators must have been wealthy, as the tiger would be valued at VND1 billion (US$167,000) by current market prices.

Most of the tigers in South East Asia are shot down for their furs and bone gelatin, believed to be a wonder panacea.

Investigators are continuing their search for suspects.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=17244

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