'No need to panic about Panjo'
2010-07-28 11:17
Cape Town - The Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism Agency says there is no need for people to panic after a number of reported sightings of escaped tiger Panjo in the province.
"People mustn't worry, they mustn't keep their kids locked away," Chris Hobkirk of the agency's game capture unit told News24.
"It is habituated towards people. There's a serious doubt that the tiger could attack people," he said.
He however warned people not to try and capture it, "not because the tiger will attack, but because it is the best thing to do".
"They must just keep it in sight and call us immediately. We will come and collect it," he said.
The number for the agency is 013 759 5300.
May not be in Mpumalanga
Panjo's owner, Goosey Fernandes, said that whoever comes into contact with the tiger must point a stick at him and say "no", or offer him a chicken.
Hobkirk said people should also keep in mind that until a definite sighting had been made, there was no guarantee that the tiger is still in Mpumalanga.
"It could be in Limpopo," he said.
Brenda Santon, manager of the NSPCA wildlife unit, said the tiger's constant movement was one of the biggest challenges facing the team tracking down Panjo.
"To try and trace him has been very difficult. There have been a few reports. A lot of them haven't been true, but we still have to follow every lead," she told News24.
On Tuesday, a reported sighting in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg, turned out to be a lynx.
On Wednesday morning the search was on for Panjo in Middleburg (Mpumalanga), where a woman reported seeing him on her way to work.
The NSPCA's Wendy Wilson said two other Mpumalanga sightings - in Dullstroom and Groblersdaal - had been reported on Wednesday morning, making the search team's job "very difficult".
Unfamiliar ground
Santon added that tracking down and catching a tiger will be a first for many of those involved in the search for 17-month-old Panjo, who broke out of the back of his owner's bakkie on the R25 between Groblersdal and Delmas while they were on their way to the vet.
"This is a first for me, certainly for many other people trying to find him," said Santon.
She said although the team working to find Panjo had the expertise to bring in the animal while avoiding harm to both the animal and other people, it must be remembered that tigers are exotic animals in South Africa.
"We are on very unfamiliar ground," she said.
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