Residents along the Texas-Mexico border are urged to exercise caution as they go about their daily activities after a Bengal tiger escaped from an area zoo.
The large feline escaped early Wednesday morning from the Quinta La Fauna Zoo in Reynosa, Mexico, just across the border from McAllen, Texas. Zoo staff first discovered that the tiger was missing around 8:30 a.m. after finding significant damage to the animal’s mesh enclosure, Chron.com reported.
The Quinta La Fauna Zoo, currently closed until further notice, has not released detailed information about the escape, but authorities have confirmed that the tiger was last seen along the banks of the Rio Grande.
Lt. Enrique Longoria of the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office said that while local deputies have not been deployed across the border to assist in the search, they have been instructed to remain vigilant, reported Valley Central.com.
Social media has also circulated an advisory warning from an animal welfare center in Reynosa, urging residents in the western part of the city to stay indoors and secure their pets.
Bengal tigers are an endangered species that can weigh up to 500 pounds and reach 10 feet in length. While most tigers avoid people, they may attack or kill humans when threatened or annoyed or when no other natural prey is available.
In January of 2023, The Dallas Zoo unexpectedly shut down after officials discovered that one of its clouded leopards was missing, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The wild cat, named “Nova,” was thought to have escaped through broken mesh wiring, similar to this week’s tiger escape.
Fortunately, Nova was found on the Dallas Zoo grounds after a daylong search by staff, DX reported.
In December 2022, the Senate unanimously passed the bipartisan Big Cat Public Safety Act. The legislation, which prohibits the private ownership of big cats as pets, was prompted by the widespread attention from the TV series Tiger King and various controversies surrounding big cat ownership in America.
“Texas has one of the highest populations of big cats in the country with numerous instances where these animals have escaped and injured and even killed people in our state,” Shelby Bobosky, Executive Director at the Texas Humane Legislation Network, said in 2022.