Escaped tiger from Mexican zoo near U.S. border is recaptured

An escaped tiger was recaptured Monday after days on the lam. It was originally held in captivity at a zoo in Reynosa, Mexico, right across the border from McAllen, Texas.

The tiger escaped from the Quinta La Fauna zoo. Workers at the zoo noticed the Bengal tiger was missing and that mesh around its habitat was torn on Sept. 4, Mexico’s Office of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) said.

Using traps, Reynosa civil protection personnel managed to recapture the big cat, a male Bengal tiger about 3 years old and weighing 220 pounds, on Monday night, PROFEPA said Tuesday.

The tiger was not injured by the trap used to capture it, Reynosa city officials said on Facebook.

The tiger did find prey in its time outside captivity, with authorities in Mexico fielding reports of pigs and chickens being attacked, according to Texas Public Radio. Reynosa public security officials posted pictures of the tiger’s tracks and droppings on Facebook on Saturday.

The tiger will now be transferred to the Tamatan Zoo in Ciudad La Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas state where Reynosa is located, PROFEPA said.

Before its capture, there was concern that the tiger could cross the Rio Grande into the United States. Bengal tigers can swim up to 7 miles in a day, according to Houston news site Chron.