A Siberian Tiger, threatened with being put down because he is too common, could be on his way to West Carmarthenshire.

Carmarthenshire County Council have received an application for a dangerous wild animal licence to be granted to keep one-year-old Torrik, who has been living temporarily at Longleat Wildlife Park, at Hebron, Whitland.

Sadly, Torrik is too common to be given the chance to earn his stripes as a stud. His services are not required as his bloodline is already well stocked and he is classified as non-viable.

As a result, his owner has been told Torrik must find a new place to live by the end of March, or face destruction.

Torrik, it is said, would be well supervised and kept under close guard if he was to be allowed to live in Hebron and his prospective keeper, who will also apply for a shotgun licence as an extra safety measure, has had years of experience of dealing with big cats.

Precautions to make sure he would not run amok include many layers of strong and electrified fencing, CCTV, infra-red night lighting and an alarm system.

Social services cabinet member, Clr. Clive Scourfield said: "Obviously this is an application we will have to consider very carefully, but it would be nice to think that we are able to help save such a beautiful animal from destruction."

Carmarthenshire County Council animal health officers have extensively consulted police, veterinarians, the local councillor and the community council about the matter.

The application was due to be decided on Wednesday at a meeting of the director and cabinet member for social care and housing.

However, the decision has now been deferred until March 26 for the applicant to put forward their case and for a police objection, which was lodged at the end of last week, to be looked at fully.

Although dialogue between the police and local authority is continuing, the police objections have been made on the grounds of public safety.

"While we sympathise with the plight of the animal, irrespective of any conditions that might be attached to the grant of such a licence, no enclosure can be guaranteed to be 100 per cent escape proof," said Chief Inspector Westlake, of the community safety department.

"The ability to respond swiftly and appropriately are critical issues in the decision making process. The escape of a tiger into the local community would be a critical incident and have severe and, in our view, unacceptable public safety implications."