San Jose father incredulous his son could have taunted deadly tiger (Photo of tiger grotto)

Oakland Tribune ^ | 12/27/2007 | Lisa Fernandez, Mark Gomez and Julia Prodis Sulek

[Sacajaweau]

I wonder how many times keepers watched him try and go for it...and ignored it.

[heartwood]

No kidding. She’s also a keen observer of behavior, whether human or animal, and good observations are valuable whether or not they come with credentials.

[DocRock]

"Latest information (They actually measured the wall!) says that the wall was too short. It was only a little over 12 feet."

The article says the grotto was built in 1940. Maybe 67 years of erosion filled in the moat some. Just a thought.

[Red in Blue PA]

Re: Cut the guy some slack.

Do you feel the same way about drug dealers who are killed?

[Ditter]

I have no idea what you mean. I am talking about the kids father.

[gitmo]

I used to be a zookeeper. I've seen quite a few jerks tease the animals and end up getting theirs. Nobody killed, but a few hit by flying debris.

The maddest I ever got was when a mother lowered her baby into a primate area so the ape could kiss her darling. I don't generally cuss, but I increased that woman's vocabulary considerably.

[Ditter]

That mother sounds like one of the people who learned everything they know about animals from Walt Disney.

[gitmo]

So you have "evidence" that tigers have cognitive abilities?

From my exerience as a zoologist and a zookeeper, I would say it is plausible a tiger would remember someone who was cruel to it. Many zoo animals remember who is mean and who is respectful of them.

I treated the big cats with respect, and once found myself in a very dangerous situation, trapped between a mother lion and her cubs. She crouched and watched me carefully, but allowed me to walk away. She left me alone until I could get freed from the enclosure.

[gitmo]

That mother sounds like one of the people who learned everything they know about animals from Walt Disney.

That job really opened my eyes. I had assumed everybody had some familiarity with animals and with animal behavior. I found out a lot of people are clueless what animals are. Their reactions to seeing live animals were shocking. Many people react with something akin to hatred immediately. Others thought they were like kittens or teddy bears.

I remember one woman was offended the lions were engaging in behavior she deemed unacceptable in polite society. She insisted we stop them. One of my buddies handed her the keys to the lion enclosure and told her that SHE should go in there and stop them. I don't know if the male lion would have attacked right away or saved her for a snack for after his activity. (She probably would have thought it great if she saw the cubs when they were born.)

I had grown up around horses and adopting any critter that crawled, flew or slithered up to me. I assumed everybody lived that way.

[zerosix]

Assuming that you are what you state, I bow to your opinion, however not all zoologists agree with the opinion that animals "remember" who had "taunted" but never came in physical proximity to them.

Especially, since we now know, this cat had attacked others in the past and was in a non-authorized pen where escape was an option.

[gitmo]

I said it was plausible, not that was what happened. Who did this tiger attack in the past? I haven’t heard that.

[mware]

A tiger is a big cat. Cats do what cats do.

Get a mouse or rabbit to run in front of a cat and see what that cat does.

[mware]

speaking of animal attacks, I am watching Grizzle Man right now.

What a fool Tredwell was.

[zerosix]

One of it’s handlers, a lady who was placing food in it’s area. Obviously got too close and had her arm mauled.

[gitmo]

One of it’s handlers, a lady who was placing food in it’s area. Obviously got too close and had her arm mauled.

I had a friend who got a broken neck from a tiger. One swat on the back and he was down. Luckily, he survived, but he treated the tigers with more caution.

[zerosix]

My earlier points precisely!

Wild animals are just that, they are not the same as "domesticated" ones and need to be treated like a bomb - handled with the utmost care only by those who have expertise in such matters and even then knowing that at any moment your death may result!

[gitmo]

Wild animals are just that, they are not the same as "domesticated" ones and need to be treated like a bomb - handled with the utmost care only by those who have expertise in such matters and even then knowing that at any moment your death may result!

Absolutely. Even though we had good working relations with our animals, we never gave the more dangerous species the opportunity to do us harm. At the same time, I think if you have been mistreating an animal, you are more likely to be killed if you find yourself face to face with the critter.

[Red in Blue PA]

Your experience shows you that tigers (heck, most zoo animals) are intelligent creatures. Many here believe they possess no cognitive abilities whatsoever.

I am definitely not one of them.

[gitmo]

Your experience shows you that tigers (heck, most zoo animals) are intelligent creatures. Many here believe they possess no cognitive abilities whatsoever.

I once had a female chimpanzee watch me pull my keys out. She stuck her hand out begging for the keys. I gave her a key I happened to have that didn't fit anything anymore. She immediately ran over to the cage door and tried to put the key in the lock.

[Red in Blue PA]

Smarter than many people I know.