日本一飼養員被白虎咬死 家人選擇寬恕
A white tiger has mauled a zookeeper to death in its enclosure at a zoo in Japan, officials say.
據相關官員表示，日本一家動物園的一隻白虎，在虎圈內咬死了一名飼養員。Akira Furusho, 40, was found bleeding from the neck in the tiger's cage at the zoo in the southern city of Kagoshima. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.
在這家位於鹿兒島南部的動物園的虎籠內，40歲的飼養員古莊晃被發現頸部出血。隨後他被送往醫院，但最終宣告死亡。The male tiger, named Riku, was sedated with a tranquiliser before rescue workers and police arrived.
在救援人員和警察到達之前，這隻名叫Riku的雄虎被注射了鎮靜劑。
It is to be kept alive following a request from the victim's family.
根據受害者家屬的要求，這隻白虎將繼續存活。"We plan not to kill Riku and continue to keep it because the bereaved family asked us to do so," said Takuro Nagasako, a zoo official said, quoted by the AFP news agency.
《法新社》援引動物園負責人田畔高士的話稱：“我們不打算殺死Riku，要繼續養着它，因爲這是死者家屬的要求。”Police are now investigating how the zoo looks after the four white tigers it keeps.
警方目前正在調查該動物園是如何照看園中飼養的四隻白虎的。White tigers are a rare variant of the orange Bengal sub-species and owe their colour to a recessive gene. Today, they are exclusively in captive programmes where the limited numbers are interbred to maintain the distinctive fur colour.
白虎是橙色孟加拉亞種的罕見變種，其顏色歸於隱性基因。如今這一數量有限的物種只能人工圈養，並通過異種交配以保持其獨特的毛皮顏色。
