Overview
- The county carried out the removal on Wednesday after a June 30 compliance deadline expired, taking six of eight tigers from the Dölzig holding for animal-welfare and public-safety reasons.
- Officials sedated the animals, verified them by implanted microchips and had multiple veterinarians examine them before handing them to Animal Advocacy and Protection (AAP) for transport.
- AAP confirmed the tigers arrived at its Villena facility in southern Spain and must spend four weeks in quarantine before moving into a 3,000–3,500 m² outdoor enclosure designed to reduce human contact and restore natural social structures.
- Two tigers remain at the site while authorities review the legal basis for further removal, and the public prosecutor is investigating suspected negligent bodily harm by omission over the mid-May escape that injured a 72‑year‑old helper and led police to shoot the escaping tiger.
- The case grew from a multi-year dispute with the owner, former circus performer Carmen Zander, after county mammal-husbandry guidance showed the Dölzig facility provided space only for two tigers rather than the eight kept there, a gap that has intensified calls for clearer national rules on private exotic-animal keeping.