What a Tiger Sees

sandrap2 says: "it shouldn't matter if the animal was taunted" ???!!! this is exactly the type of low level mind some of those people have who visit zoos or sanctuaries with no regard to the existance of the animals. I rest my case....if anyone should be sued, it should be the survivors if they are implicated of wrong doing. Now zoos must waste their money putting in survelliance cameras to catch these type of fools...

If one dangles food (legs/arms) near a tiger what do you expect the tiger to do? The tiger does not differentiate between a trainer's arm, the food she was delivering, or someone's legs dangling over the edge of its territory. The tiger is a wild animal situated near people that forgot protocol or common sense.

while I feel for the families of the injured, if it is proven these men taunted the animal, thus causing the rampage, they should be held responsible....not the zoo. the families should sue?!?!?!?? what? for the stupid behavior of their relatives?!?!? this is an expensive animal. They should be held liable at least for that. The handler last year was perfoming a spectacul of feeding for the public, which should not be allowed.

well said, Don Jose. I too have been involved with wild animal sanctuaries and zoos. Perhaps the wall enclosing the tigers was short of what was "recommended" -- key word: "recommended". Captive animals do behave differently. But the behavior of the people visiting is deplorable! They feel somehow the animals must react or pay attention to them. They cannot quietly observe. While I feel for the families of the injured, if it

It should not matter if the animal was taunted or not. The wall should have been higher. Was the handler taunting it when it mauled her last year? We need to remember, this was an animal. It left no mother or father behind. The parents should sue and so should everyone else in the zoo, you weren't safe either.

well said, Don Jose. I too have been involved with wild animal sanctuaries and zoos. Perhaps the wall enclosing the tigers was short of what was "recommended" -- key word: "recommended". Captive animals do behave differently. But the behavior of the people visiting is deplorable! They feel somehow the animals must react or pay attention to them. They cannot quietly observe. While I feel for the families of the injured, if it

well. I only can said: wild animal is a wild animal, doesn't matter how long you keep them in a cage? it is too sad to see the accident happen, and the tiger be shot to death. I am very much think the boys must do something fool enough to provoke the tiger.and make she will go after them . I feel sorry for the boy's family but wild animal is not a stuff animal

what about the male tiger tony ? is he in the same enclosure and if so where was he when this happened? is he in the same enclosure with the same height of wall ???

The problem is with stupid people, who think that wild animals are cute and not dnagerous anymore because after all being surrounded by people all the time, they're "socialized". These are wild animals, not pets. They are designed to hunt and kill large prey. I've read some of the posts that say stupid things like if they just stood still, the tiger wouldn't have hurt them. Been watching those old Bugs Bunny cartoons that say play dead, he won't hurt you if he thinks your dead? Welcome to the realworld. "Play dead, he won't hurt you if he thinks you're dead!", folks ? Welcome to the real world. Something set this tiger off. It may have been taunts, it may have been something else. The end result is a magnificent animal is
dead because it was being a tiger, one person is dead and 2 people are badly hurt. I feel the zoo could have been more proactive and perhaps this could have been prevented.

The problem is with zoos in principle. They're prisons for animals. It is an abomination to keep a wild animal caged up, surrounded by strange humans. The only surprise here is that more animals don't escape and kill people. The animal certainly shouldn't be punished for this, it's the fault of humans who've kept them in such an unpleasant manner.

Non-domesticated animals belong in animal preserves. You can watch them on wildlife shows, where you filthy apes can't stick your limbs in their cages, or throw popcorn at them.

The bottom line, as this article points out, is that people are complacent. They think that wild animals in zoos aren't wild anymore. That they're used to people and so they're pussycats(pun intended). That perception was only strengthened for years by Siegfried and Roy, with their asinine entertainment act with tigers. It was an accident waiting to happen, and it should have come as no surprise when it did. Tigers, Lions, Burmese Pythons, crocodiles - these are WILD animals, not pets. To think you can domesticate them and "socialize" their instincts out of them is ludicrous. That doesn't stop people from being stupid around them.

I feel the AZA failed in their responsibility twice. Why didn't the AZA recogonize the dangers of the feeding procedure that caused the injury last year at the same zoo? Why didn't AZA recogonize the wall height was under sized? Is the AZA acreditation just some certificate hanging on a wall? The AZA needs to do real inspections to insure safety standards.