( Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)
I read that mauled to death a zookeeper in New Zealand and although shocking, it?s also a plain fact that a tiger is a wild animal, a predator, and will always have these instincts, so when you walk into an enclosure you run the risk of this happening.
What I did find shocking was that the tiger was later destroyed by wildlife park staff which is terrible when this is a rare animal who was only doing what is natural and surely cannot be blamed for it?s actions.
In this news report it criticises the management and handling of animals for endangering keepers. It emerges that keepers there took bigger risks even though the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) bans direct contact with big cats ?unless an animal is hand-reared or suitably conditioned?.
I personally feel that the zoo and its keepers have brought this on themeselves and the tiger cannot be blamed.
I agree. Whenever things like this happen it?s such a tragic waste all around. It shouldn?t have happened, and the animal shouldn?t be punished for doing what it is meant to do. It isn?t as if it should surprise anyone that the cat is a wee bit dangerous.
So sad.
Well, I wouldn?t blame the tiger either. Sad stories but a tiger is? well, a tiger.
We get these stories in Canada with bears.
Well, yes, a tiger. That?s different.
But then, not unlike what we read here in good ol? Blighty, where a pit bull terrier either wounds or kills a young child.
The dog is almost always destroyed as a result.
Exactly the same reaction.
I, too, agree. Especially in a case where it is an endangered species and the keepers weren?t following protocol. Unnecessarily tragic.
Threelight ? I would have to add that Pit Bulls are specifically bred to be aggressive and this is the reason that many owners own them. If they too were put in a caged enclosure then maybe it would be different but they are in the public and in these cases we hear about are often left alone with child which is asking for trouble.
Adem ? but then a tiger is also a dangerous animal and not in it?s natural habitat. It?s in a cage. It?s natural instinct is to kill (that?s what it would do if it was in the wild).