A fully grown Bengal tiger that escaped from a traveling circus was shot dead on a street in a Sydney suburb only 150 yards from a busy supermarket.
Circus owner Steve Robinson said he gave the order Wednesday to shoot the tiger named Genghis, which escaped an hour earlier, rather than place shoppers at risk."We had the tiger under control and considered using a tranquilizer, but if the tranquilizer had missed, it may have spooked it and set it off again," he said.
The tiger, weighing 440 pounds, earlier injured a circus worker who tried to prevent its escape. The worker, Guy Rose, 22, received stitches for a wound to his leg.
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Authorities said it was still not known how the tiger escaped and an investigation was continuing.