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And as Usual, they Killed the Tiger.
White Tiger kills zookeeper while tourists watch.
So...the animal lived it's whole life in captivity in what were reported to be cramped and crowded conditions. And when it exercised its natural instincts, it was put down. I don't want to say it's not tragic when a person dies just doing their job. But man...wild cats are NOT meant to be kept in cages. And whaddaya know, it led to death of both a person and a rare animal.
Plus, this particular tiger was killed after the attack had ended. I can understand shooting a tiger if it's actively attacking someone, or even if it is loose in a crowd of people. People say that once they see people as food, they will be more likely to attack us. I say that big cats already see us as food, and that it's fucking stupid to ever assume otherwise. Just ask Roy Horn...or don't, that guy is crazy.
Apparently the guy running the park was investigated by NZ's Ministry. After assessing the animal's conditions and surroundings, they considered putting 40 of them down. There were 42 big cats being housed there at the time. I guess being some kind of famous "Lion Man" doesn't necessarily make you a competent zookeeper.
This is, as it happens, the second recent White Tiger attack in a zoo. Last November, a cleaning guy in Singapore got mauled to death by two white tigers. People thought at the time the guy might have been "crazy" or suicidal. As he's dead, they still don't know. Anyway, here's the cell phone footage of the Singapore attack. Warning: this is actual footage, with sound, of a guy being attacked by tigers and people reacting to it. It is truly horrifying to watch, so much so that you might not want to. Seriously.
The difference between the Singapore attacks and most others is that Singapore Zoo determined that the attacking tigers would NOT be put down. They said they were acting "naturally."
Of course a year earlier, a Siberian Tiger escaped from its enclosure at San Francisco Zoo. It killed a zoo patron and attacked two others before being shot dead by police, who for some reason, were on the scene before zookeepers. Later, it was determined that not only were the victims taunting the tiger, but also that the enclosure did not remotely meet current zoo standards for tigers. So again, a person and an animal died.
I think I've mentioned, I'm torn on the whole zoo thing. There is certainly value in providing sanctuary for animals who can't live in the wild for one reason or another. Breeding and acclimation programs for endangered animals is generally a good thing. And teaching future generations about the beauty and importance of having animals in the wild is also very important. Zoos are doing better and better when it comes to providing healthy habitats for most animals. When I was a kid, pants-wearing monkeys smoked cigars and rode tricycles at Detroit Zoo. Now they fling poo just like real monkeys (kidding, only captive monkeys do this). Still, wild animals in captivity is a big fucking drag.
Okay, enough about that. It's my day off and I have another character to kill.
So...the animal lived it's whole life in captivity in what were reported to be cramped and crowded conditions. And when it exercised its natural instincts, it was put down. I don't want to say it's not tragic when a person dies just doing their job. But man...wild cats are NOT meant to be kept in cages. And whaddaya know, it led to death of both a person and a rare animal.
Plus, this particular tiger was killed after the attack had ended. I can understand shooting a tiger if it's actively attacking someone, or even if it is loose in a crowd of people. People say that once they see people as food, they will be more likely to attack us. I say that big cats already see us as food, and that it's fucking stupid to ever assume otherwise. Just ask Roy Horn...or don't, that guy is crazy.
Apparently the guy running the park was investigated by NZ's Ministry. After assessing the animal's conditions and surroundings, they considered putting 40 of them down. There were 42 big cats being housed there at the time. I guess being some kind of famous "Lion Man" doesn't necessarily make you a competent zookeeper.
This is, as it happens, the second recent White Tiger attack in a zoo. Last November, a cleaning guy in Singapore got mauled to death by two white tigers. People thought at the time the guy might have been "crazy" or suicidal. As he's dead, they still don't know. Anyway, here's the cell phone footage of the Singapore attack. Warning: this is actual footage, with sound, of a guy being attacked by tigers and people reacting to it. It is truly horrifying to watch, so much so that you might not want to. Seriously.
The difference between the Singapore attacks and most others is that Singapore Zoo determined that the attacking tigers would NOT be put down. They said they were acting "naturally."
Of course a year earlier, a Siberian Tiger escaped from its enclosure at San Francisco Zoo. It killed a zoo patron and attacked two others before being shot dead by police, who for some reason, were on the scene before zookeepers. Later, it was determined that not only were the victims taunting the tiger, but also that the enclosure did not remotely meet current zoo standards for tigers. So again, a person and an animal died.
I think I've mentioned, I'm torn on the whole zoo thing. There is certainly value in providing sanctuary for animals who can't live in the wild for one reason or another. Breeding and acclimation programs for endangered animals is generally a good thing. And teaching future generations about the beauty and importance of having animals in the wild is also very important. Zoos are doing better and better when it comes to providing healthy habitats for most animals. When I was a kid, pants-wearing monkeys smoked cigars and rode tricycles at Detroit Zoo. Now they fling poo just like real monkeys (kidding, only captive monkeys do this). Still, wild animals in captivity is a big fucking drag.
Okay, enough about that. It's my day off and I have another character to kill.
no subject
It's when this changes that problems start to happen. Big cats looking upon humans as easy to catch meat-on-a-stick (being man eaters) is when the problem starts.
It's unpleasent, but unlike before they now will go out of their way to hunt humans, and it's every species for themselves.
no subject
Obviously if wild animals are going into populated areas and attacking people as a food source, it needs to be relocated to someplace more remote. I just think we should avoid murdering them whenever possible. There was that one lion family where the young were actually taught to kill people as a food source, but that, as you pointed out, is very, very rare.