Rare tiger shot dead to thwart attack on man 

Critically endangered and rare Malayan tiger at Naples Zoo has been shot dead by police after the wild animal attacked a Naples Zoo cleaner who had stuck his arm into the cage to feed the big cat Eko.

On Wednesday, the tiger died after being shot when it bit the arm of a cleaner.

Eko, an eight-year-old Malayan tiger, was found with the man's arm in its mouth at Naples Zoo on Wednesday.

A sheriff's deputy attempted to get the tiger to release the man but was forced to shoot.

The tiger retreated into its enclosure after being shot and was sedated by a vet in order for it to be safely examined, but was later announced to be dead.

The cleaner, reportedly, was seriously injured and taken to a hospital.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the cleaner put his arm into the tiger's enclosure and was not supposed to be in that area of the zoo. 

The incident happened around 6:30pm at a time when the zoo was closed. 

Moreover, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission will investigate the incident.

As per February 2020 blogpost on the Naples Zoo website, Eko previously lived at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.

He came to Naples Zoo in December 2019.