Politics & Government

Proposal to House White Tigers in Malibu Lives -- For Now

A hearing goes all day, and so it is continued until next month.

The showdown between people who are OK relocating five rare white tigers to Malibu and neighbors who say it’s not worth the safety risk has been continued.

The Ventura County Planning Commission couldn’t get through last week all the speakers who wanted to voice opinions – both for and against – on a proposal to house the tigers in Deer Creek Canyon, just across the Ventura County line.

So commissioners continued the hearing until March 13.

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According to published reports, the Thursday hearing lasted all day, wrapping up at 6 p.m. without a decision.

Applicant Irena Hauser her sister Sophia Kryszek, experienced animal trainers, make the rare tigers and other exotic animals available for movie shoots.

Find out what's happening in Malibuwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

They plan to build three huge enclosed cages on a 19-acre property the sisters bought last year. The cages would be within an 8-foot-tall perimeter fence on 7.16 acres, according to a Ventura County planning staff report.

“With the recommended conditions of approval, it is not reasonably foreseeable that the tigers would escape,” the staff report says. “However, regardless of the conditions of approval imposed on a project, the potential for human error resulting in the release of a dangerous animal will always remain.”

Staff recommended the commission find the proposal not compatible with the surrounding development.  

That was music to some in the packed hearing room. Wearing lime green hats and T-shirts that said, “No Tigers,” a group called No Tigers in Malibu praised a “great turnout” on its Facebook page


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