(no subject)

[waterspyder]

http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=w1227117A

By most accounts, some asshat was taunting a tiger, who then jumped out and mauled the guy. Officials seem fairly shocked that the tiger could jump out of the enclosure.

About three years ago I was talking with the Siberian Tiger Zoo Keeper at the Metro Toronto Zoo who said very simply that their two males could easily jump the barricade and escape, but because their territory is inside the enclosure, and the enclosure is the only world they've known, they are very unlikely to do so. He said that this extends so far that if they were to leave the enclosure gate open, it would probably take several days before the tigers would venture outside.

So while visiting zoos, be quiet observers, don't dangle limbs (food) at carnivores.

Comments

[kookiemaster.livejournal.com]

People can be pretty moronic in zoos. In Toronto, I saw adults throw stuff at wild cats to "make them move" because they were "boring" ... being to retarded to understand that yes, in the middle of the afternoon on a hot summer day, cats take naps.

That being said, while I can see the whole reluctance to "leave one's territory" (in the early days of me rescuing Wendigo, putting her on the balcony became a huge drama scene and she would have done anything, including clawing me to death, to go back inside ... and I figure wild animals are more territorial), I'm not sure I would use that as a safety measure.