The zoo's director had no choice but to kill the animal

Aug 27, 2012 08:01 GMT  ·  By

This past Saturday, a male tiger living in captivity at the Cologne zoo in Germany tried to escape and ended up killing a 43-year-old woman in its quest for freedom.

Official sources explain that the big cat, named Altai, somehow succeeded in getting out of a security tunnel and made its way into one of the zoo's administrative buildings.

It was here where it stumbled upon a woman who worked as a zoo keeper for this wildlife park, and killed her before other members of the staff got a chance to do something about it.

In light of these events, zoo director Theo Pagel had no choice but to shoot the animal and put an end to its life. As police officials explain, it was a good thing that the zoo's director had the right weapons for killing the big cat, as the pistols they use on a regular basics could have done little to stop Altai from injuring other people.

Rumor has it that this tragic accident occurred because one of the gates that was supposed to keep the tiger enclosed in its designated area was left improperly closed.

Only recently, a hiker in Alaska was also killed by a grizzly bear while trying to take some pictures of it.