Tiger Wanders Streets - Of N.J. -- Loose Animal Suspected To Be From Reserve

JACKSON, N.J. - People move to this fast-growing suburban enclave in the scrub pines to get away from the big city. A prowling tiger has shown some residents just how far they've gone.

Last week, a 431-pound Bengal tiger wandered around residential subdivisions for several hours until it was shot to death by police, who had tried unsuccessfully to tranquilize the animal.

Authorities still don't know where the animal came from, although they don't lack suspects: Six Flags Great Adventure with its wildlife safari and a private tiger sanctuary run by woman known locally as "The Tiger Lady." Both deny the animal was theirs.

The episode has left many residents stunned to learn they've spent $300,000 or more to buy dream homes between New York and Philadelphia in a community that also is home to more than 30 tigers.

"I know when you buy a home, it's up to you to ask about things: Are there any landfill problems, is the water OK, how are the schools, how high are taxes?" said Karen Klag, who moved to a pricey subdivision near the Tiger Lady's compound in November.

"But who in the world would think to ask, `Are there tigers within a quarter-mile of my home?' " she said yesterday.

Like many other new residents of the subdivision, Klag knew nothing of Joan Byron-Marasek when she and her husband bought what they thought would be an ideal home in which to raise a family.

And the couple certainly never heard of Tigers Only Preservation Society, the nearby refuge that Byron-Marasek operates on her 11.7-acre property about 20 miles southeast of Trenton.

Now, Klag and others say, they wish they'd never come here.

"When you think of tigers, you think of Africa, not New Jersey," said Juanita Maldonado, who moved in about six months ago. "In the summer, there was this awful smell. We couldn't figure out what it was. Then we found out: It was from tigers. Tigers!"

Officials from the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife say they strongly suspect the escaped tiger came from Byron-Marasek's preserve, about a half-mile east of Interstate 195.

Permit paperwork on file with the state indicated she has 23 tigers, although only 17 were found there last week. She told the town's mayor that three of the tigers had died. That leaves two unaccounted for.

Although Byron-Marasek hasn't adequately explained the discrepancies, the state doesn't believe that any other tigers are on the loose, said David Chanda, a state wildlife biologist.

Luane Acevedo, a friend of Byron-Marasek, said the woman is a former tiger handler with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus who got two Siberian tigers from Russia and some of the other Bengal tigers from India.

"She walks among her tigers just like Tarzan," Acevedo said. "She's amazing. She told me, `I have scratches all along the sides of my rib cage, and both my arms have been cut open, but they're just playing.' Now that's love."

Byron-Marasek and state officials signed a consent agreement over the weekend allowing inspectors to come onto the property at will and conduct spot counts of the tigers there. Yesterday, the agreement was extended indefinitely, Must said.