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'WE'RE DEVASTATED'
Animal park outraged as wild lynx shot dead on council orders 12 days after escaping from zoo
Big cat Lillith was killed for the 'safety of the public' over fears she could have attacked a human while hunting for food
A COUNCIL has been slammed after shooting dead a lynx that was on the run for 12 days after escaping from a zoo.
Lillith was killed for the "safety of the public" over fears it could have attacked a human while scavenging for food.
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The one-year-old big cat had been spotted sleeping in a closed caravan park a mile from Wild Animal Kingdom in Wales where it escaped on October 29 after hopping an electric fence.
Zoo owner Tracy Tweedy has now hit out at council chiefs for ordering the hit on the lynx, which was valued at around £5,000.
Owner Tracy Tweedy, 47, insisted Lillith posed no danger and calling in a specialist hunter was “completely over the top”.
She said: “We were told she was in a heavily populated area and a shoot-to-kill order was being issued.
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She blasted: "I am angry - there is nothing humane about shooting a defenceless creature.
"The council is saying Lilleth went onto a populated part of the community, but that is rubbish.
“Myself and five staff went to find her, but we were told we were sabotaging the operation.
“Next day Lillith was shot dead. But lynx pose no threat to humans — they run away.” Tracy fears the cat was shot on government orders under pressure from the National Sheep Association.
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The zoo added in a statement: "I would like to make it clear to everyone ... that the decision to kill her was not ours and we in no way agreed to or participated in the shooting of our baby Lynx.
"We are truly devastated and outraged that this happened."
She had asked officials to use a tranquilliser dart on the animal but was told it wasn't possible.
There were several sightings of the cat during an operation by keepers and a police helicopter to return the animal to the park around six miles from Aberystwyth.
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Marksman Andrew Venables, who was contracted to kill the animal, defended the decision saying "action had to be taken".
He added: "The very sad truth is the fact an animal was allowed to escape in the first place and that the owners were unable to catch it over a three-week period of grace.
"The animal was found in a caravan park, where tourism is vital, and the possibility of a darting response was never explored. It was further complicated by the dark, since it was a night-time operation.”
Mr Venables, 58, confirmed the lynx was seen under a caravan. But when it was suggested he fired the fatal shot, he replied: “You can’t have been told that, goodbye.”
Ceredigion Council said the decision was made to destroy the wild animal after the risk it posed to the public increased "to severe" following failed attempts to recapture it.
They added: "It is with deep regret that Ceredigion County Council reports on the humane destruction of the Eurasian Lynx that recently escaped from Borth Wild Animal Kingdom.
"Despite exhaustive multi agency efforts to recapture the class A animal, the multi-agency group responding to the incident received additional advice late on Friday afternoon, 10 November, from a specialist veterinary surgeon that the risk to public well-being had increased from moderate to severe due to the continued failure of the Wild Animal Kingdom to recapture the Lynx.
"The safety of the public was paramount and therefore once the Lynx had strayed over to a populated area of the community it was necessary to act decisively."
Lillith became known as the Beast of Borth after her dash for freedom last month.
She made a "giant leap" over an electric fence and was blamed for the death of several sheep found mutilated in nearby fields.
Ceredigion Council will now carry out an urgent safety inspection of the zoo, which was taken over by Tracy and her husband Dean earlier this year.
Dartmoor Zoo's missing lynx has been recaptured and is safe in quarantine
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