Middelburg - The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) is investigating whether the owner of a Bengal tiger that went missing in the province on Monday evening had a permit for keeping it.
"I can confirm that we are currently investigating whether the tiger was kept illegally or if the owners had a permit. That is all I am prepared to tell you now," said Melissa Jooste, an investigator at the MTPA's wildlife and conservation department on Wednesday.
A team from the agency is in the Delmas area looking for the 17-month-old tiger named Panjo.
It is believed the cat escaped from the back of a bakkie somewhere between Groblersdal and Delmas while being taken to a vet in Springs.
According to owner Goosey Fernandes, Panjo was not being kept illegally. "All my cats are registered and the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency knows that," said Fernandes, who owns the Jugomaro Game Farm near Groblersdal.
The farm stocks game such as kudu, wildebeest, waterbuck and impala and sells bow-hunting packages to hunters.
Fernandes said he received information that the animal had been spotted in Middelburg on Wednesday morning. He was on his way to the scene.
Spokeswoman for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) Wendy Wilson said the organisation was following "every lead" that might help to locate and capture the tiger.
"There are a number of teams in the air and on the ground looking for the tiger. Some are looking in the Delmas area and others are in the Middelburg area, where the cat was apparently spotted today (Wednesday)," said Wilson.
She warned that the tiger might be dangerous because he was probably hungry and exhausted.
"People must not try to attack or capture the cat if they see him. They must report any sightings to authorities like the police," she said.
In Delmas's Botleng township, people were worried by the thought of being confronted by a starving, panicked animal.
Nkosinathi Mkhabela, who works for the Department of Agriculture in Delmas, said he could not go to work on Wednesday because he was too scared he might come across the tiger.
"I was supposed to go and take reports on some farms in the area, but I couldn't because the tiger might be roaming around the farms. I don't want to be lunch for some big cat," said Mkhabela.
"Some people from Botleng also did not go to work today. They say they won't feel safe until they have been assured that the tiger has been captured. Parents have even kept their kids from school," he added.
