LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. (AP) -- A 600-pound tiger eluded capture for a second day Tuesday after escaping from the compound of its owner, a former actor who once played Tarzan.
Sheriff's deputies and state game officials set up a perimeter around a 5-acre area of dense slash pines and palm trees, and started beating the bush again at daybreak, said Willie Puz, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Wildlife trackers, joined by the cat's owner, Steve Sipek, felt confident they were closing in on the cat, named Bobo, after finding fresh paw prints. They planned to shoot the 6-year-old tiger with tranquilizers but carried shotguns just in case.
Sipek was "very distraught over the whole situation. He feels confident that if he spots the tiger he may be able to talk him into coming to him in a peaceful way," said Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The tiger was spotted several times, including by a woman who said it was in her back yard. Officials hoped Bobo would simply grow hungry and return home in search of food, Puz said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/07/13/538321.html
Sheriff's deputies and state game officials set up a perimeter around a 5-acre area of dense slash pines and palm trees, and started beating the bush again at daybreak, said Willie Puz, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Wildlife trackers, joined by the cat's owner, Steve Sipek, felt confident they were closing in on the cat, named Bobo, after finding fresh paw prints. They planned to shoot the 6-year-old tiger with tranquilizers but carried shotguns just in case.
Sipek was "very distraught over the whole situation. He feels confident that if he spots the tiger he may be able to talk him into coming to him in a peaceful way," said Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The tiger was spotted several times, including by a woman who said it was in her back yard. Officials hoped Bobo would simply grow hungry and return home in search of food, Puz said.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/07/13/538321.html