Tiger bites off girl's finger

01 June 2012

A FATHER from Rustenburg in the North West is considering legal action after a Bengal tiger bit off part of his child’s finger, according to a report yesterday.

The tip of eight-year-old Karla Malan’s pinkie could not be found after a tiger nipped it off at the Predator’s Rock Bush Lodge on a guided tour at the weekend. Her father, Jacques Malan, said the 14-year-old daughter of lodge owner Gert Blom had told them the animals were tame and could be stroked through the wire fence.

Karla watched the tour guide stroking a tiger, then did the same, at which point the animal grabbed her hand. "I got such a fright, my hand and fingers were full of blood. My dad shoved his hand into the tiger’s mouth to help me,” she said.

Malan said as they drove to a nearby hospital, his daughter asked him if her finger "would be gone forever”. Doctors later amputated another section of her damaged finger, to just beneath the middle joint.

Blom said his tigers were as tame as house cats, and the Malans should have seen signs posted in the vicinity warning visitors not to touch the animals. – Sapa

Reader's Comments

Report Abuse Author: sarunds Date: 04 June 2012 20:52

When will people learn to keep their kids under CLOSE supervision when around big cats! Who in their right mind lets their 8 year old kid stick their fingers through a fence to pet a tiger?!?! The guides have worked with the animals and have a relationship with them, strangers do not. Once again, its the cats that get the blame when its the child and their parents that should be reprimanded for behaving so foolishly. God forbid we end up a nanny state where you can't move without being told where the next slightly uneven bit of pavement may be, just incase you trip and sue someone! Please people - use your common sense!

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