NAPLES, Fla. —

A member of a third-party cleaning service that was contracted by the Naples Zoo was seriously injured after getting too close to a tiger Wednesday night, resulting in the death of the tiger.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office said it was called at 6:26 p.m., after the zoo was closed to the public.

The member of the cleaning service was responsible for cleaning restrooms and the gift shop, not the animal enclosure, deputies said. They believe the man in his 20s was either petting or feeding the animal, neither of which are allowed.

Officials said the Malaysian tiger grabbed the man's arm and pulled it further into the enclosure after the man had gone through the initial barrier.

The deputy who first responded kicked the enclosure and tried to get the tiger to release the man's arm before the deputy was forced to shoot the animal, the sheriff's office said. The tiger then ran to the back of the enclosure and was sedated.

The man was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, deputies said.

The Malaysian tiger, which is a critically endangered species, was killed during the shooting, a spokesperson for the zoo said to ABC.

The tiger's name was Eko and came to the zoo from Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in Dec. 2019 before being introduced in Feb. 2020.

"Eko is a great ambassador for his species. When guests see him, we hope they fall in love and want to learn how they can do their part to save his cousins in the wild," the zoo says on its website.

The zoo is closed Thursday and scheduled to reopen Friday.

The zoo said it will be doing a fund in Eko's honor and released a statement on its website:

"Naples Zoo will be closed today, December 30th. The decision to close today was made to allow officials to complete their investigation late into the evening. This decision was also made to allow the Zoo to begin its own internal investigation and to allow our staff to process what has occurred and to begin the painful healing process. A grief counselor will be available for staff beginning today. We will reopen at 9 a.m. tomorrow and we thank our community for their understanding and for the messages and words of encouragement and support that have been flowing into us."

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HOUSTON —

The nine-month old Bengal tiger that has been missing for days in Houston was found Saturday and was transferred to the appropriate authorities, officials said.

"We are happy to report that the missing tiger seen in a Houston neighborhood last week has been found and appears to be unharmed," Houston police tweeted.

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Houston Police Commander Ron Borza identified Gia Cuevas and her husband, Victor Hugo Cuevas, as the owners of the tiger during a Saturday night press conference.

The tiger appears to be in good health, Borza said. Animal control officials in Houston will be delivering the tiger to an animal sanctuary Sunday, according to police.

Gia Cuevas turned in the tiger to the authorities, said Borza, adding that she is not facing any charges at this time. Borza didn't say how the couple obtained the tiger.

It is illegal to house a tiger in Houston, Borza said.

"In no way shape or form should you have an animal like that in your household," Borza said. "That animal can get to 600 pounds. It still had his claws, and it could do a lot of damage if he decided to."

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The tiger is currently secured at BARC, the city's animal shelter and adoption agency, said Mary Benton, communications director for the city. The tiger will be medically evaluated before being transported to the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch wildlife sanctuary on Sunday, the City of Houston Mayor's Office said a media release.

Victor Hugo Cuevas was the man last seen with the tiger last Sunday, and he was taken into custody Friday after a Fort Bend County judge revoked his bond on a pending, unrelated murder charge from 2017.

Michael Elliott, his attorney, had said the tiger did not belong to Cuevas, but rather that he had been looking after the animal for its owner. But on Saturday, Borza said the tiger belonged to Cuevas.

"It is Victor's tiger," Borza said. "That's what I was told by [Gia], and she is the wife of Victor, and she says they've had that animal for nine months."

When Cuevas was allegedly seen with the tiger on April 9 in a West Houston neighborhood, he was out on bond on the murder charge in Fort Bend County and on a separate charge of evading arrest earlier this year in nearby Austin County.

Cuevas was arrested Monday for evading police in Harris County regarding the missing tiger.

The tiger was not with him at the time of arrest, and its fate and whereabouts have captured the nation's imagination since.