A 175-pound tiger that was seen jumping backyard fences and evaded capture for a week in Houston has been found and handed to authorities.
Police announced on Saturday that the 9-month-old Bengal tiger, named India, had been turned in and appeared to be in good health.
It comes after the pet’s owner got in contact with the Houston Police Department and said she wanted to surrender the animal, ABC reported.
The tiger was taken to BARC Houston, the city’s animal shelter, police added.
India was first seen jumping over backyard fences and roaming front lawns in a west Houston neighbourhood on May 11.
According to officers, the caller who reported seeing the animal said that neighbours were “starting to show up with guns”.
At one point the caller said the tiger was staring back at them.
A video posted on Twitter shows a man pointing a gun at the animal and backing away as it slowly walks towards him.
The man did not appear to fire any shots during the 40-second video of last night’s incident.
Police said someone identified as a suspect pulled up in a white Jeep Cherokee and took off with the animal before they showed up.
The Netflix series Tiger King has drawn attention to the issue of tigers being kept in captivity in the US, where it is said there are as many of the animals as there are left in the wild.
According to some estimates, there are about 3,900 tigers remaining in the wild and as many as 5,000 in captivity across America.
