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A fantastic tale untold No tiger on the loose in Crystal Beach By James Shannon, Staff Writer
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, there have been the usual stories of devastation and human perseverance generated by most disasters, natural or otherwise. But none seem to have garnered more attention than the irresistible tale of a man-eating tiger on the loose in Crystal Beach.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, there have been the usual stories of devastation and human perseverance generated by most disasters, natural or otherwise. But none seem to have garnered more attention than the irresistible tale of a man-eating tiger on the loose in Crystal Beach.
The beachfront community on Bolivar Peninsula along the Texas Gulf Coast was nearly wiped out by Ike, and then came the tiger report.
The Associated Press quoted an ominous warning from Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough, who said, "Turns out there's a tiger, and I understand he's hungry... so we're staying away from him."
Although Yarbrough apparently never explicitly said the tiger was on the prowl, that quickly became the story. The statement was picked up by CNN and Britain’s Sky News, then repeated by newspapers and television networks around the world. It made a fascinating sidebar to dramatic accounts of the killer storm that left a path of destruction from Haiti to Texas, but there was one small problem. It wasn’t true.
The genesis of the fantastic tale was remarkable in itself, however. A local animal lover waited too late to evacuate Crystal Beach. As he attempted to drive to safety, he was trapped by rising waters. In the back of his vehicle was Shackles, an 11-year old lioness. Sympathetic people who had taken shelter at the First Baptist Church in Crystal Beach gave sanctuary to the man and the lion he described as his pet.
The animal lover in question was Michael Ray Kujawa, who ran what Crystal Beach visitors have described as a make-shift home zoo that had previously housed goats and an emu in addition to the big cats.
After wading to the church, he restrained Shackles inside the church and rode out the storm with the other residents who had taken shelter there. But Kujawa had another cat back at his home zoo, a 400-pound tiger secured in a fairly spacious enclosure. The tiger was being fed in the post-storm confusion, but clearly something had to be done.
Dr. Sarah Matak is the local veterinarian in Winnie, the nearest town on the mainland. She was contacted by officials who requested she tranquilize the tiger so it could be moved to safety. She in turn called Carl Griffith, the former Jefferson County Sheriff and Judge who owns an exotic game ranch down the road.
“Parks and Wildlife called and asked if she could come down and try to sedate the animal, and she asked could I use the dart gun to do that,” related Griffith. Conditions in the storm-ravaged community had deteriorated by the time Matak and Griffith arrived in Crystal Beach on Wednesday, Sept. 17, four days after Ike hit.
“They had been feeding it, but he was a very aggressive and angry cat,” said Griffith. “There were only two choices. It was either put it to sleep or they were going to have to kill it.”
Accompanied by Texas Game Wardens, Griffith and Matak went to Kujawa’s animal house. The former sheriff and two others cautiously approached the tiger’s enclosure in an attempt to avoid agitating the animal.
“That’s the biggest problem with darting animals,” said Griffith. “As long as you don’t get them excited, the adrenaline doesn’t start pumping. He went down fairly easily; we got a dart in him and got another dart in him.”
Matak said the tiger was transported to an animal refuge facility near Somerville in Central Texas. Shackles the lion, who is more of a pet, was cajoled into a cage so she too could be transported.
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While the above story has nothing to do with the pseudo-sanctuary, I decided to re-print the article pertaining to this amazing lion because it was very interesting wild animal story. It's not every day when you read about people opening their church doors to a lion in need! At this time, there is no news to report regarding the pseudo-sanctuary. Open records have been requested from the State and Federal agencies, and so I eagerly await news regarding the status of the pending cases.
