Tiger cub jumps to death

A tiger cub jumped off a building to its death in eastern China when it was spooked by fireworks set off to celebrate the Chinese New Year, a forestry officer and state media said Thursday.

The 7-month-old cub escaped its chains and cage and fell onto a parking lot in Pingdu city in Shandong province on Feb. 18, according to the reports and a Pingdu municipal forestry bureau official, who gave only her surname, Dai.

The incident happened on Lunar New Year's Eve, the start of a two-week period in which people set off fireworks in the streets.

Some reports said the tiger was being kept illegally after the owner had agreed to raise it for a park. Dai said she couldn't confirm this and the case was under investigation.

Chinese set off fireworks in the belief they ward off bad spirits.

-SAPA