A Deer Creek property owner’s plan to house up to five tigers has raised concern among her neighbors.
The property owner, Irena Hauser, has applied for a conditional-use permit to run a tiger-training facility, according to the application filed with Ventura County. The tigers would be used for filming in the entertainment industry.
The facilities would be at 11077 Pacific View Road in west Malibu. The area would be enclosed by over 2,000 feet of 8-foot high chain-link fence with chain-link roofs, according to the application.
Hauser and her immediate family will care for the facilities, with no additional employees, according to the application.
Residents voiced their concerns about housing tigers in their neighborhood in earlier reports.
“Neighbors are not happy, obviously, about it,” resident Dan Bercu told KTLA. “It’s really an inappropriate use to have five, 1,000-pound Siberian tigers in a quiet west Malibu residential neighborhood with young kids.”
Nanette Bercu told CBS that she’s concerned for the safety of her kids.
“Feeding them, getting them to school, getting everywhere. Last thing I want to worry about is if a tiger is going to get loose,” she said. “One mistake by a human and a tiger can get loose. No one can predict that. No one can secure us from that. And there’s no insurance for that.”
CBS reported that the county declared the facility would not have a negative impact on the environment, but that approval for the facility still needs to go through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.