Tiger and alligator at home in the urban jungle FROM TIM REID IN WASHINGTON
	IT’S a jungle out there, so the saying goes. But when New York’s finest were called to a tiny flat even they were surprised to discover a tiger and an alligator lurking inside. The police officers raided the fifth-floor property in Harlem after its owner, Antoine Yates, checked into hospital seeking treatment for bite wounds that he said had been caused by a dog, a story that doctors refused to believe. Tenants in Mr Yates’s tower block had also rung 911 complaining that some of their neighbours were better suited to a zoo than a flat. The officers, although sceptical, were taking no chances and drilled a small hole through the property’s front door. When they peered through they spotted the 400lb tiger prowling around inside. A police sharpshooter was called who abseiled down the outside wall of the building and then shot the tiger with a tranquilliser dart through an open window. Martin Duffy, the marksman, said: “He charged twice and I shot him. He charged a last time and broke through the glass.” When officers entered the flat, there was another surprise lying in wait: a Cayman alligator. Neighbours said that a second tiger, some cubs, two Rottweilers, rabbits and a tarantula also used to live in the flat, until some family members moved to Philadelphia taking the animals with them. Police said that Mr Yates, 31, was in custody after being charged with reckless endangerment. The animals were being moved to a zoo in Ohio.
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