A twin brother of the South China tiger is seen at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 25, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

The circus whose Siberian tigers attacked and killed a zookeeper in Central China's Henan Province was not qualified to raise them, and had not applied for any permission from relevant departments to transport the tigers, the local forestry bureau said on Sunday. 

The animal keeper at a scenic spot in Xichuan county was bitten by two Siberian tigers on Tuesday morning and taken to a hospital, but later died of severe injuries. 

The tigers then escaped from the scene but were soon found. After several failed attempts to approach and tranquilize them, the local emergency departments eventually shot them to death, as the tigers were becoming increasingly irritable while showing an obvious tendency to attack people. 

The tigers belonged to a circus in Suzhou, East China's Anhui Province, before they were brought to the scenic spot in Henan, Suzhou forestry bureau confirmed, CCTV News reported on Sunday.

The bureau stated that while the circus had a license for breeding national second-class protected animals, it had not been qualified to raise first-class protected species, such as Siberian tigers. 

Besides, the circus had also never applied to the local forestry authority for permits to transport the big cats, it noted. 

Global Times