Why Tigers Attack

p.s. if the clown did go messing with the tiger that just one more dumb person in our evolution that wont spread the "stupid" gene.

Frosted Flake-One does not need to live amongst those things which one loves in order to appreciate and respect them. Of course nobody in their right mind would jump into a tiger's lair just out of love for the animal. That seems to be convoluted logic on your part.

This is a lesson to all zoo's, aquarim's and public amusement parks. Please put up cameras!!! If there were there wouldn't be any of these discussions.

I truly believe that the two remaining boys were involved in taunting the Tiger along with the one was unfortunatly killed. They now don't want to be bothered or want to be intervied, I wonder why ??!! They really have alot of answers to be made. I hope that they are not in the same room in the hospital so that they can really scheme up another answer or can someone maybe put a microphone in their room??

It's the zoo to blame, the tiger is THEIR responsibility, and their duty to make sure the animals don't attack the visitors.
Even if the visitor was taunting the tiger, It's still the Zoo's responsibility to make sure that the tiger doesn't attack anyone.
--newsweekreader16-
Why down the page more, you say that no one knows for sure If the visitor taunted the beast, then up the page you say that the young man was stupid for taunting the tiger. No one knows If he did or not.
the young man was stupid to taunt the tiger? No one knows yet.

I agree it would be absolutely stupid to taunt a tiger. I think the victim did exactly that and ended up paying for it. His parents need to realize and instead of blaming everyone for this including zoo administration, they should realize the problem lies witht the victim.

petasucks-I'm afraid I gave you the wrong impression. I grant you no distinction. None of what you have said has gone beyond me. I just do not agree with you. And of course you are not required to respond. I have enjoyed our lively exchange of ideas. I hope you have not taken any of my remarks personally, but it seems that now some of your remarks are straying far beyond the bounds of this forum. If you would like to return to the original issue at hand, perhaps I will join in again.

Pookie, the forensic evidence at this point indicates that someone was attempting to enter the enclosure over the fence (footprint on top of the rail). Now, how is the zoo responsible for the idiocy of its patrons? Taunting a territorial predator in that fashion is asking for trouble.

if a tiger (or any other predator/cat) is provoked by a person, the person will more than likely end up dead. that is what tigers do: they hunt and kill. that is their nature. the tiger could not help the fact that she was a tiger. i have awe and respect for all the big cats. i would NEVER provoke a cat, nor any other animal, for that matter. the zoo should NOT be held responsible if the tiger was provoked.
barbara

Petasucks: Explain to me logically how you think the tiger is to blame. The tiger acted like a tiger. Humans know how tigers act, but chose to encage this one and several others and allow humans to stand around and look at them. What did we expect would occur in the event of an escape?? There is plenty of blame to go around, but I don't see how any of it can be laid on the tiger.

First, many of the animals come to zoos as a result of being "rescued" from other sub-standard zoos, or even confiscated from the black market where they are illegally trade because some moron wants a 300 pound tiger as a pet. Rarely are they cpatured straight out of the wild and sent to a zoo, barring some health problem or the like, where it could not survive in the wild. Top notch zoos do a service to the animals by removing them from bad conditions and furthering the possibility of the species being replenished in the wild by studying them, breeding programs, etc. That said, substandard zoos where a 500 lb. animal is kept in a box are torture, and I do not support this AT ALL.

the tiger is a wild animal, it acts on instinct. It does not know hatred have any malice or evil intent, like humans do. They kill for food, territory or because they are threatened or provoked. My 8 pound indoor kitty will stalk, pounce on and rip to shreds anything that looks like prey. If you piss her off, hurt her, threaten her, she'll unsheath the claws and bite you. This tiger was doing the same thing, it's instinct is to roam a large territory, run, and kill. Cats are very intelligent, I'm sure it wasn't happy to be enclosed, much less harassed by humans on a daily basis (I'm not saying that's what these boys did, but it does happen at zoos, we know that), it was presented the opportunity/ability to escape and it did so. Smart tiger.

I have no idea what this particular enclosure looked like, I haven't seen pictures, but a 300 lb tiger leaping 20 feet doesn't seem to be entirely impossible. My cat can leap as high as my shoulder (maybe higher?) from a seated position, so this huge tiger leaping 20 feet...?

This incident is tragic for the victims and the tiger, but this should prompt more stringent standards for keeping animals in captivity and educating the public abotu these beautiful creatures and their natural habitats, to garner respect for them in future generations and prevent the extinction of such an amazing creature.

I am an animal lover and extremely supportive of preserving the natural habitat animals and studying them to prevent extinction. I don;t eat meat and I don't wear fur, and I do NOT support killing animals. That said, humans are animals, too, and our instinct is also to survive (and protect our own). A 300 pound (pissed off) tiger sets it's sights on you, the primal insttinct is to save yourself. At this point a tranquilizer is not an option. I don;t fault the cops for shooting the tiger, they were untrained for this situation, and their lives and others were under imminent threat of severe bodily harm or death. You can kill a human under these circumstances (self-defense), they might not have much of a choice.

the tragedy is that they were put in the position where they had to in the 1st place, which, as a society, we should seek to avoid in the future.