Fear gripped neighbourhoods around Vandalur zoo after one of the five Bengal tigers was suspected to have gone missing from its enclosure.
A 7m-high wall around the enclosure had collapsed around 7am on Saturday after the previous night's rain.
Officials said all the tigers are within the enclosure, but they could not confirm if they have spotted all the five animals after about 30m of the wall around the moat fell.
"We are sure that all the tigers are in the enclosure," said Sudhakar, assistant director and public relations officer of the zoo.
Late in the evening, a media report said a tiger could have escaped from the enclosure.
"Four tigers were in the cage and one was in the yard when we noticed the wall had collapsed in the morning," said Sudhakar. "We have placed chain links where the wall had fallen. There is no chance for the tigers to escape as there is a 7m wall near the moat."
Freedom at midnight?
The Vandalur police said a couple of tigers could not be found in the enclosure in the evening, but later officials said only one tiger was missing.
"A team of forest officials attached to the zoo are on rounds in search of the tiger," said Mukilan, assistant commissioner of police, Vandalur.
A zoo official said they are keeping a close watch on other animals like deer which could be targeted by the tiger. "There has been no killing in the zoo," said a police officer coordinating with the zoo.
The five Bengal tigers, including one adult and four sub-adults, were in an enclosure measuring two hectares, surrounded by a moat and an outer wall. The zoo has 12 orange Bengal tigers and 14 white tigers.
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