Big cat burglars hunted after 'tame' tiger, cheetah and jaguar worth £100k are stolen from breeder

• 15 February 2015
• By Lucy Hilton

Police said the thieves smashed security cameras and disabled the alarm at the breeding farm before sedating the animals with a dart gun

Cat Burglars: Thieves reportedly knocked the animals out with a dart gun

Police are hunting a team of sophisticated big cat burglars after a tiger, cheetah and a black jaguar worth almost £105,000 were stolen from a breeding farm. The thieves reportedly smashed security cameras and disabled an alarm before using a dart gun to knock out the animals at the property in Saudi Arabia. Empty syringes were found in the big cats' cages in place of the beasts.

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Taken for money: The tiger stolen by cat burglars

Owner Ibrahim Al Osaimi believes the animals had been stolen to order. The 54-year-old said: "They were all three very rare, especially the tiger which was particularly in demand. "The special thing about them is that they were all trained to make them tame and perfect pets." Detectives said Mr Al Osaimi was a professional big cat trader.

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Gone: The cheetah stolen by cat burglars

The animals are popular as pets among wealthy Arabs, who are prepared to pay vast sums for them - especially if they are 'tame', as Mr Al Osaimi claims his were. In addition, the animals have become increasingly difficult to get hold of. Police in the capital Riyadh declined to comment on the case, saying only that the investigation was ongoing.

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