White tiger sparks New York pile-up

New Yorkers sitting in a traffic jam under the punishing midday sun must have thought the day could get little worse.

That was before a 450lb white Bengal tiger appeared on the highway and caused a mass pile-up as panic-stricken drivers attempted to flee.

The beast, called Apollo, escaped from a circus in the Queens area as he was transferred from a small cage to a larger one at the weekend.

He calmly loped through a park, terrifying Mary Mason and her friends who had gathered for a church picnic.

'We were all in shock,' said Ms Mason. 'There we were, out on a quiet afternoon picnic and all of a sudden a white tiger is walking past like he was on a quiet afternoon stroll.'

Apollo then wandered half a mile to Jackie Robinson Parkway, sparking the five-car pile-up. No one was seriously hurt.

Witnesses said the tiger jumped on the bonnet of one of the smashed cars before fleeing the scene of the accident.

He was finally cornered by police on a nearby residential street. As he lay in the sun, six officers surrounded him with guns drawn. Passer-by Kevin Miller said: 'Cops were running around and yelling at me to get out of the area. I was frozen. He was big, he was white and he looked like something out of Siegfried and Roy.'

The seven-year-old tiger's trainers then arrived and coaxed Apollo back into his cage by offering him a hunk of meat on the end of a stick. No tranquillisers - or bullets - were needed.

'It was a little hectic at first, but the situation was resolved with no injuries and no shots fired,' said NYPD Capt John Durkin. 'The tiger was taken into custody without incident.'

Florida-based Cole Bros Circus was cited for creating an animal nuisance. Boss John Pugh said: 'Out of their environment, the cat is more frightened than you are.'

It is not the first time New York police have had to deal with a tiger.

Last October, officers removed a 600lb Siberian-Bengal tiger and a 5ft alligator from a Manhattan apartment.

'Police have no special training on how to deal with tigers,' Capt Durkin added. 'Based on this, we may have to incorporate something into our training.'