Ok people listen up. I was saddened to hear about the recent mauling of patrons at the San Fransisco zoo by a 300 pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana but I kept thinking to myself that something is not quite right about this story. My instincts were as usual correct.
Follow along with me here folks. Now first of all the name of this cat alone should have tipped these folks off that she was not to be messed with (my own personal philosophy is never mess with anything whose name sounds like a female Russian spy) I can understand if her name was Snuggles you may think aw how cute but dadgum folks IT'S A TIGER ! Tigers don't play.
So still this is looking like a tragic lost of human life and the hands of a wild beast, but based on the news reports that the tiger habitat had a huge wall as well as a moat and was basically inescapable I still had an uneasy feeling about this one. Then today I read THIS It turns out that they are investigating the guy that was killed may have taunted because "police found a shoe and blood in an area between the gate and the edge of the animal's 25- to 30-foot-wide moat, raising the possibility that one of the victims dangled a leg or other body part over the edge of the moat."
This little bit of information has changed my outlook on this situation. Yes I still consider it a tragedy however I think the tragedy it that Tatiana is dead. If the "victim" in this case was stupid enough to taunt a 300 pound Siberian tiger then he should not be surprised when Ms. Tatiana takes him up on his offer of a juicy leg and comes after him. You cannot blame the tiger here. It is a shame that others were hurt and that the tiger was killed but dadgum people if there is any lesson here it is this: IT'S A TIGER AND TIGERS DON'T PLAY.
-Shane (doc)
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This story reminds me of an old American proverb:
'So many times, it happens too fast.
You change your passion for glory.
Don't lose your grip (or dangle your leg) on the dreams of the past.
You must fight just to keep them alive
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight, (yada yada yada).'
(Many thanks to Frankie Sullivan & Jim Peterik for letting me paraphrase their lyrics).
- The Mountain Tig...er...Cat
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2 comments:
Just like the Croc Hunter these things are always going to end badly. If you taunt a wild animal then you are basically going to get what is coming to you. I've seen people taunting animals at the zoo at times when I've been visiting one. I was really tempted to open the gate for the animals.
Hmmm...I also read and found it interesting that "last year...Tatiana chewed flesh off a keeper's arm during a public feeding demonstration."
I've never been down with seeing wild animals in captivity anyway...I'd rather just watch them on the Discovery Channel in their habitat...far, far away from mine! :)
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