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WALLACE -- By Wednesday, nearly 50 wild animals were shot by sheriff's deputies in Zanesville, Ohio.  The story made national headlines after the owner of an exotic animal park committed suicide, but not before opening the animals' cages and freeing them.

What makes the Ohio story especially heartbreaking is the loss of 18 rare Bengal tigers.  It's estimated that there are around 1,400 of these endangered cats left in the world.

Navarro is a 400-pound white Bengal tiger at DeYoung Family Zoo in Wallace.  The owners say where he's housed is extremely secure.  There's a 16-foot high fence all around, but there’s another perimeter fence in front that’s 8-feet high.

Carrie Cramer, director of the DeYoung Family Zoo, said they made a call to see how they could help, but were told the Columbus Zoo was not currently accepting any outside help.

She says while their facility is secure, they do take precaution.  They have on-call volunteers and even have tranquilizer guns to help secure an animal...just in case.

“Something like that could not occur here in Michigan,” explains Cramer.  “That’s because our state is one of the few states in the U.S. that does a good job regulating with laws and restrictions.  Plus, we are a USDA licensed facility.  Anyone that has these types of animals should be licensed and regulated."

But the DeYoung Family Zoo officials said don't underestimate these exotic animals.

“We only deal with other licensed facilities, other zoos,” said owner, Bud DeYoung.  “And so in order to do it properly, they have to be legally acquired.  Otherwise, sooner or later, you're going to have law enforcement knocking on your door."

Another extra measure they take is their high tensile electric fence surrounding the tiger enclosure.  According to Cramer, it's similar to the electric fences used to contain livestock, but it delivers a higher voltage pulsating shock.