Photo:Xinhua

The decision to shoot two tigers dead after they attacked and killed an animal keeper in Xichuan county, Central China's Henan Province, was made out of concern for the safety of local villagers, the local forestry bureau said on Tuesday, as efforts to trap the tigers failed after they got loose. The tourist spot where the incident took place has been closed for further investigation. 

Experts on animal protection noted on Wednesday that frequent animal attacks reflect deep-rooted problems in the treatment of wild animals, while exposing loopholes of zoo safety management.

The animal keeper at the spot, surnamed Jia, was bitten by the tigers on Tuesday morning and taken to a hospital, but later died of severe injuries. 

The tigers escaped from the scene but were soon found, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday. Local authorities immediately launched an emergency response plan and evacuated nearby residents.

The public security department and the county's forestry bureau urgently dispatched tranquilizer guns to capture the tigers, which were then taken to the site by a special team, CCTV News reported on Tuesday.

However, the team members were unable to approach the tigers. Other measures were attempted, such as using chickens containing anesthetics as bait, but these efforts failed.

Professional animal trainers were called in to guide the tigers, but that idea was abandoned as the anesthesia could only be injected from within a range of 5 meters, which at the time was too risky. 

During the process, the tigers had become increasingly irritable, showing an obvious tendency to attack and posing a serious safety threat to the team. Fearing that they might run into the woods where some villages are located, the tigers were eventually shot dead with the approval of higher authorities. 

The scenic spot is now closed for further investigation, the forestry bureau stated, and the bodies of the animals will be dealt with according to laws and regulations.

The tiger attack in Henan came only days after another zookeeper was killed on Sunday after being attacked by a tiger in Bengbu, East China's Anhui Province, prompting heated discussions on social media platforms over the proper management and emergency response measures at animal parks.

Netizens on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo questioned if the animal keepers had been treating the tigers badly at the circus, where they were trained before being taken to the Henan scenic spot. 

Sun Quanhui, a scientist from World Animal Protection, told the Global Times on Wednesday that behind the shows at the circus are usually cruel training of animals, and wild animals cannot be domesticated. 

Therefore, when animals are under extreme stress, they may exhibit irritable behavior toward humans, as they are nervous and frightened. However, such behavior is only out of their instinct of self-protection, said Sun.

Others criticized the park for not having contingency plans that could have stopped the attack in a more timely manner.

Sun pointed out that the incident has reflected loopholes in the safety management of zoos, where tranquilizers should always be in place to calm the animals in case of need. 

"Keeping wild animals in a confined environment will put them under tremendous physiological and psychological pressure," noted Sun, and people who breed wild animals should consider their welfare and cater to their behavioral needs in terms of diet, medical treatment, and housing designs.