White Tiger Mauls Roy In Vegas

[dukedogsmom]

I'm so sick of humans exploiting animals! I don't support circuses or anything like that. Wild animals belong in the wild!

[CathyBogart]

Normally I agree....but many people consider even captive bred reptiled wild animals, and in most situations I disagree.

[smokey the elder]

It sounds like the tiger may have been in pain, since he was limping. Pain even makes our domestic pussycats snotty at times, so imaging a wild animal!

I don't approve of animal acts for the most part, but S&R's tigers are something like ambassadors for the species, and raise awareness of their plight.

Slighly off-topic, but tiger related: did anyone see the show about rehabbing tiger cubs into the wild? Awesome if they can pull it off, because of all the big cats, tigers breed well in captivity. Mortality among wild cubs is high, but if they could be brought up to "teenages" they could then be introduced and stabilize a population. In theory of course.

[Toby's Mommy]

Do you know how long that tiger has been there? I think I saw that tiger when I went there 2 years ago. It could have been a different tiger than I saw. It was cool to see them but I didn't watch the show. I only saw them in the cage. The cage is bigger than my house!

Thats what he gets for hitting him!! What a dummy

[RubyMutt]

Originally posted by Toby's Mommy
Do you know how long that tiger has been there? I think I saw that tiger when I went there 2 years ago. It could have been a different tiger than I saw. It was cool to see them but I didn't watch the show. I only saw them in the cage. The cage is bigger than my house!

Thats what he gets for hitting him!! What a dummy

When I heard about this on the radio the DJ said that this was Monticore's first performance.

[moosmom]

My very first reaction when I heard it on the news was "What about the tiger???" I hope they didn't euthanize him.

I also don't go to circuses or any kind of animal performances. Like the consensus here...these animals are WILD creatures. Anything can happen in a split second, like what DID happen. I don't believe it's fair to punish the animal.

I watched a program on Animal Planet last night about magicians and cats. These men run a sanctuary (I think)and train cats through respect, compassion, praise and treats. Their beliefs are that these animals should be treated with the utmost respect and compassion and should NOT try to be domesticated. I was very impressed at the way they worked with the cats. Totally different from years ago when the cats were controlled with whips and chairs.

I hope Roy recovers from his ordeal and they both retire. As far as the cat is concerned, let him go live out his life like he should, in the wild where he's happy and free with others like him.

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by Toby's Mommy
Thats what he gets for hitting him!! What a dummy

OK, what would you have done if you had a tiger latched on to your arm? In the past, a thump on the nose had been the tiger's signal to stop. He just happened to be holding a microphone which made a startling noise at the time. Bad idea? Yes. But I don't think any of us can say for sure that we would have done any better in that situation. Roy does care about the welfare of his tigers, and doesn't just go around whacking them for no reason.

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by moosmom
My very first reaction when I heard it on the news was "What about the tiger???" I hope they didn't euthanize him.

I hope Roy recovers from his ordeal and they both retire. As far as the cat is concerned, let him go live out his life like he should, in the wild where he's happy and free with others like him.

Did you read my post? Monticore will -NOT- be euthanised.

Since he was a hand raised tiger who has been in captivity and around humans his entire life, would you really wish him death by starvation (or poaching) in the wild? As far as I know, their plans are to keep him and let him live out his life in their beautiful tiger sanctuary.

[sweet_stormy]

i have never heard of these people or this tiger. what i have heard i dont think was right, i mean, the guy hitting the tiger with the microphone. he should have known that a tiger would have done that! its a wild animal for crying out loud! its not going to be so cute and cuddly like a domestic animal!

[babolaypo65]

They are pretty well known...
check out this link...

http://www.lasvegastourism.com/siegfried_roy.htm

[Uabassoon]

i mean, the guy hitting the tiger with the microphone.

You need to reread this thread, that is not one happened.

[RICHARD]

Another reason for not wearing real fur.

It bites.

[luckies4me]

This was NOT the tigers first performance, and Roy hit the Tiger BEFORE the tiger bit him..............so, he got what he deserved. Read more here:

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/ar...px?news=136461

[Twisterdog]

I don't approve of animal acts for the most part, but S&R's tigers are something like ambassadors for the species, and raise awareness of their plight.

I agree. If you haven't been to The Mirage, toured the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden, seen the animal enclosures and seen a performance, you truly have no clue. These animals are VERY well cared for. Preserving habitat and endangered species has been a lifelong commitment for both of these gentlemen. They have created a huge rainforest inside the Mirage, where endangered animals can live out their natural lives, when their native habitat has been destroyed. These gentlemen love these animals and have spent literally millions of their own money supporting environmental and wildlife causes.

The tiger enclosures at the Mirage are state of the art natural habitats, and the animals are rotated off public view to a private enclosure often. These animals are in no way mistreated, and seeing these animals live and hearing S&R speak of their loss of habitat, poaching, etc. has done as much, if not more, to help endangered animals than any other effort in the US.

Roy hit the Tiger BEFORE the tiger bit him..............so, he got what he deserved.

That's a really nasty thing to say, IMO. They put on six shows a week, 44 weeks per year and have been onstage in Las Vegas for more than 35 years. That is a LOT of shows, and this is the first serious incident. Obviously, if they were abusing these animals, they could not have kept up this show schedule for 35 years. The article I read said he "tapped" the tiger on the nose, not "hit" it. This is consistent with what I saw at their shows, a light tap at the very most, usually with fingertips, just to get the animals' attention. I'm sure a "tap" with a microphone was not sufficient to injure a 600 pound tiger. I think saying that he "got what he deserved" is more than a bit callous and unfeeling. This is a man who has devoted his life to the plight of the wild tiger and it's habitat.

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/ar...px?news=136461

[Cheshirekatt]

Hey, I've done the same thing with my kitties. If they're playing too rough and grab my hand, I usually bap them on the nose if I don't have a squirt bottle handy.