A young female tiger which was spotted in Edenvale on the East Rand on Monday morning has been recaptured and will be taken to a sanctuary. This comes just over a week after another female tiger, Sheba escaped from an enclosure in Walkerville, south of Joburg. She was only recaptured three days after the escape and put down. She had attacked and injured a man, William Mokoena, two dogs and a pig. 

SIGHTING

Early on Monday morning, SWAT SOS247, a security company in the area released CCTV footage of the wild animal with the tiger reportedly jumping from house to house in the Edenvale area. It was also seen playing with dogs in the neighbourhood and later sighted in a nearby veld.t was seen on a business's security camera footage walking past a car.

RECAPTURE

 SWATSOS247 confirmed that the tiger had been recaptured and would be taken to a sanctuary for safekeeping as the owner is unknown. "Different Units have assisted in locating and capturing the young tiger at Fahrenheit restaurant in Edenvale. The animal has been sedated and will be taken to a sanctuary for safekeeping." SWAT SOS247's Gary Wilson said. Spokesperson for the National Councilof SPCAs (NCSPCAS) Kashvi Nair said the organisation has informed the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the tiger. "Given that the department of Agriculture and the Ekurhuleni municipality are responsible for enforcing the legislation that allows these dangerous animals to be kept incaptivity in the first place, some form of accountability and responsibility for the welfare of the animals and the residents needs to be taken by them," Nair said.

NO LAW PROTECTING EXOTIC ANIMALS

 NCSPCA says there are currently no laws in South Africa prohibiting ownership of tigers as pets with some provinces requiring only permits which are issued by municipalities. Nair said that there's literally hardly any protection for this animal except the act NCSPCA enforces, which is the Animal Protection Act. The act refers to the definition of wild animals, but in that definition, exotics animals are excluded. "It is a matter of extreme concern that permitting(which is regulated by the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in this instance) is not required to keep such dangerous and exotic animals in residential areas in Gauteng. This lack of regulation has jeopardized the welfare of countless exotic wild animals and placed the lives of humans and other domestic animals in the area at complete risk,' Nair added.