SOURCE: New York Post

Friday, January 29, 1999
By Maria Malave and Gersh Kuntzman

Cops Eye Cat-Lovin' 'Tiger Lady' in Jersey Scare

A reclusive New Jersey "Tiger Lady" is the focus of a probe into the escape of a 500-pound Bengal tiger who was shot to death, cops said yesterday.

Investigators will get a warrant today to search Joan Byron-Marasek's compound in Jackson Township, where she keeps two dozen of the ferocious beasts -- and where a preliminary inspection found part of the fence was down.

"We only have one suspect: Bryon-Marasek," said David Chanda, a wildlife biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife.

Byron-Marasek, whose state permit allows her to house 23 tigers and cubs, dodged reporters yesterday -- a day after a tiger ran wild for nearly six hours less than a mile from her property.

State-police officers killed the animal after tranquilizer darts missed their target.

Chanda said the state would get a warrant today and execute a full search of Byron-Marasek's 11-acre compound.

During the height of the tiger scare Wednesday, authorities visited the so-called "Tigers Only Preservation Society" but hurriedly left the grounds when they got word over their radios that the tiger had been spotted nearby.

Even in the brief visit, Chanda said, officials "saw violations on her property, and she will be fined $2000 for each violation."

Another Fish, Game and Wildlife official, Rob Winkle, said one officer saw that part of Byron-Marasek's 5- to 6-foot wire mesh fence was down.

"Her outer-perimeter fence was not adequately maintained," Winkle said. "Part of her fence was down."

Jackson Township police got a call just after 2 p.m. Wednesday that a tiger was loose in a wooded residential area in the northern part of Jackson Township, the home of Great Adventure's safari park.

Authorities quickly determined that the cat was not one of the 15 owned by Great Adventure because it did not have the park's identifying markings.

Police kept the tiger within view for several hours and fired tranquilizer darts, but they missed. As darkness approached, Fish, Game and Wildlife officials decided to take the animal down.

"Public safety comes first," said Jackson Township Mayor William Allmann. "I'd rather have the animal put down than have to tell a mother or father that their child was eaten by a tiger."

Byron-Marasek has been operating her self-styled perserve for more than a decade and has all the required federal and state permits, officials said.

New Jersey requires its "Exotic and Non-Game Wildlife Species Possession" permits to be updated each year.

The animals can "not be uncaged at any time in New Jersey" and can only "be exhibited in such a manner as to prevent any possibility of public contact."

Yesterday, some neighbors were suspicious of the cat-loving recluse.

"If it's not hers, whose is it then?" said Pat Hart, who lives down the street.