A man who was mauled by a tiger last Saturday has appointed high-profile lawyer Zola Majavu to investigate suing the wild cat's owners.
William Mokoena was attacked in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, by a female tiger named Sheba.
Majavu said his instruction "is to investigate the potential of a legal suit. You don't just rush off suing someone, you have to determine the extent of the negligence".
"We also have to look at the extent of the injuries so that we are able to quantify the claim. It is still early days," Majavu told News24 on Tuesday.
READ | Sheba the tiger still on the loose in Joburg
The attorney said his client's rights would not be limited to just suing Sheba's owners, and they were considering opening a criminal case.
He said:
"If they decline to prosecute, I will prosecute him [the owner] privately," he added
Sheba, the eight-year-old tigress, escaped from its enclosure on a smallholding in Walkerville over the weekend.
The tiger was spotted near a waterhole in the Walker's Fruit Farms area, close to Midvaal, on Monday.
Since its escape, Sheba has attacked 39-year-old Mokoena, a pig and two dogs. Both dogs had to be put down due to the severity of their injuries.
Mokoena received treatment at a hospital.