Arrested: Former Tarzan actor Steve Sipek with a tiger at his home in Loxahatchee in 1985A former actor who played Tarzan has been arrested and had two tigers and a black panther removed from his home after they were considered a danger to the public.
Steve Sipek was taken into custody after his licence to keep the dangerous wild animals was revoked by Florida wildlife officials.
Officials said the tigers and panther were removed from the property in Loxahatchee for safety reasons.
Movie star: Steve Sipek, whose stage name was Steve Hawkes, in the poster for Tarzan, left, and kissing one of the tiger cubs he acquired after Bobo was shot down, right.Sipek was arrested on misdemeanor charges of possession of a Class 1 animal without a USDA permit and possession of a Class 1 animal as a pet.
The Croatian born actor appeared as Tarzan in a Spanish film called 'Tarzan in the Golden Grotto’.
During the making of a sequel ‘Tarzan and the Brown Prince’, a trained lion pulled Sipek from a fire on the set in Rainbow Springs, Florida.
Tame: Steve Sipek gives a bowl of milk to his 600-pound Bengal tiger, Bobo, who escaped his south Florida home and was shot multiple times
As a result Sipek vowed to protect big cats and has kept a number of the animals on his property.
He even boasted that he allowed the tigers to sleep with him in the house telling one interviewer: ‘When it's cold they are very warm to cuddle up to.’
Six years ago he was the subject of worldwide media coverage during a 26-hour hunt after a 600-pound tiger named Bobo escaped from his compound.
Bobo was found and shot five times with an AK-47 assault rifle by a wildlife officer.
source : dailymail
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