QuarterBoreGunner
Member
And I TOLD my wife that the .416 Rigby was a wise investment.... tigers in New York.... I'm waiting for Cape Buffalo in San Francisco.
Be prepared people; it looks like the critters are moving in. First Las Vegas, now New York.
Story link
New York -- To the sounds of enormous jungle roars, a police sniper rappelled down the side of a Harlem apartment building Saturday and fired tranquilizer darts through an open fifth-floor window to subdue -- seat belts, please -- a 350- pound Bengal tiger.
The daring, and creative, bit of sharpshooting helped end an episode in which the New York Police Department, unaccustomed to bagging big game, nonetheless managed to sedate the beast. Officials planned to send the tiger, temporarily being held at the Center for Animal Care and Control on 110th Street, to a conservancy in Ohio.
What the tiger, along with a 4- to 5-foot reptile called a caiman, was doing inside a cluttered apartment in the Drew Hamilton Houses at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 141st Street remained a mystery Saturday.
In a news conference at the scene, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the police became involved in the case on Wednesday when the apartment's resident, Antoine Yates, called to say he had been bitten by a pit bull. When the police went to investigate, Kelly said, Yates met them in the lobby. He went to Harlem Hospital with bites to his right arm and leg.
On Thursday, the police got an anonymous tip saying a wild animal was somewhere in the city. On Friday, another call directed them to the exact address. On Friday night, the police found no one home, but came across a neighbor who complained of large amounts of urine and a strong smell coming through the ceiling, Kelly said. The neighbor said her daughter had seen the tiger.
On Saturday, the tiger's existence was confirmed after a hole was cut in the apartment door.
Kelly said Yates checked out of the hospital early Saturday morning and was being sought by the police.
"This is an only-in-New-York story," Kelly said.
Getting to the tiger, a male, was no simple task. From an apartment on the fourth floor, the police first eased a pole-mounted camera out the window to conduct surveillance on him. Meanwhile, on the seventh floor, they prepared a team to rappel down so they would have a clearer view when firing tranquilizer darts to subdue him.
The police also called in animal experts, including Dr. Robert Cook, head veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, and Larry Wallach, a special investigator for wildlife for the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Wallach, who said he once wrestled a cougar off the streets of Queens, said he was particularly concerned about the tiger, which he estimated to be about 3 or 4 years old.
"God forbid that cat got out on the loose," he said.
It was shortly before 4:30 p.m. when the police sniper, Officer Martin Duffy, armed with a dart gun and a rifle with live ammunition, began to rappel toward the window. He fired one dart a few minutes later, which drew a knee- shaking roar from inside the apartment.
After a few more minutes it was determined that the tiger had been hit, the police said, but was not yet fully sedated. So the sniper fired another dart.
Be prepared people; it looks like the critters are moving in. First Las Vegas, now New York.
Story link
New York -- To the sounds of enormous jungle roars, a police sniper rappelled down the side of a Harlem apartment building Saturday and fired tranquilizer darts through an open fifth-floor window to subdue -- seat belts, please -- a 350- pound Bengal tiger.
The daring, and creative, bit of sharpshooting helped end an episode in which the New York Police Department, unaccustomed to bagging big game, nonetheless managed to sedate the beast. Officials planned to send the tiger, temporarily being held at the Center for Animal Care and Control on 110th Street, to a conservancy in Ohio.
What the tiger, along with a 4- to 5-foot reptile called a caiman, was doing inside a cluttered apartment in the Drew Hamilton Houses at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 141st Street remained a mystery Saturday.
In a news conference at the scene, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the police became involved in the case on Wednesday when the apartment's resident, Antoine Yates, called to say he had been bitten by a pit bull. When the police went to investigate, Kelly said, Yates met them in the lobby. He went to Harlem Hospital with bites to his right arm and leg.
On Thursday, the police got an anonymous tip saying a wild animal was somewhere in the city. On Friday, another call directed them to the exact address. On Friday night, the police found no one home, but came across a neighbor who complained of large amounts of urine and a strong smell coming through the ceiling, Kelly said. The neighbor said her daughter had seen the tiger.
On Saturday, the tiger's existence was confirmed after a hole was cut in the apartment door.
Kelly said Yates checked out of the hospital early Saturday morning and was being sought by the police.
"This is an only-in-New-York story," Kelly said.
Getting to the tiger, a male, was no simple task. From an apartment on the fourth floor, the police first eased a pole-mounted camera out the window to conduct surveillance on him. Meanwhile, on the seventh floor, they prepared a team to rappel down so they would have a clearer view when firing tranquilizer darts to subdue him.
The police also called in animal experts, including Dr. Robert Cook, head veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo, and Larry Wallach, a special investigator for wildlife for the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Wallach, who said he once wrestled a cougar off the streets of Queens, said he was particularly concerned about the tiger, which he estimated to be about 3 or 4 years old.
"God forbid that cat got out on the loose," he said.
It was shortly before 4:30 p.m. when the police sniper, Officer Martin Duffy, armed with a dart gun and a rifle with live ammunition, began to rappel toward the window. He fired one dart a few minutes later, which drew a knee- shaking roar from inside the apartment.
After a few more minutes it was determined that the tiger had been hit, the police said, but was not yet fully sedated. So the sniper fired another dart.
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