Eurasian eagle owl at Minnesota Zoo flies away from handler, is eaten by tiger

A Eurasian eagle owl at the Minnesota Zoo flew away from its handler during a training exercise and landed in the tiger habitat, where it was killed by one of the big cats.

“Before staff could intervene, the tiger within that habitat preyed upon the owl,” said Zach Nugent, a Minnesota Zoo spokesman, in an email.

Officials at the zoo in Apple Valley confirmed that the death happened in April. It was written up in a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report in early July during a routine inspection.