The tiger gunned down in a wild police chase through suburban Atlanta had escaped unnoticed from an entertainment company truck, authorities said.
Feld Entertainment Inc., which produces Disney on Ice and Monster Jam, was transporting the Bengal tiger Wednesday from Florida to Tennessee when the big cat broke free.
Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division said the company was not aware that the animal made a break for it.
“The truck had stopped in Georgia during the overnight hours and during that stop, the female Bengal tiger managed to escape unnoticed,” authorities said in a statement.
Police began receiving calls around 6 a.m. about a tiger prowling I-75 near Stockbridge, a suburb of Atlanta.
The tiger attacked a dog in the back yard of a residence before animal control could arrive. Responding cops shot and killed the beast.
“When the tiger became aggressive toward pets in the area, it was deemed necessary for public safety to put it down, and it was done quickly and humanely,” authorities said.
Feld Entertainment contacted police after seeing media reports about the chase. The company noticed the tiger was missing when the truck arrived at the destination, according to authorities.
Feld Entertainment Inc. told The Post that it was looking into the incident and would release a statement when more information was available.
The tiger’s intended destination in Tennessee was not known. However, one of the company’s former assets has a connection to a big cat sanctuary there.
The company owned Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus until its last performance in May. The circus retired more than a dozen tigers to Tiger Haven, a sanctuary in Kingston, Tennessee, news station WBIR reported.