However, I found an interview with a professional tiger trainer, Dave Salmoni, who said that most trainers of big cats are eventually attacked. He even said, "They will kill you if they get a chance. They may share some of your emotions, but they won't have any problem with killing you if you make a mistake. My cats will kill me, no problem, given the chance." This reminded me of the Sigfried and Roy accident in 2003, when one of the male tigers attacked Roy. There is still debate about whether the cat intended to hurt Roy or not, but either way, it proves that tigers are still wild animals, no matter how they are trained.
Yet many obviously continue to work with and train tigers for entertainment. Michael Hackenberger, another longtime big cat trainer, says problems arise when handlers "refuse to accept the biological realities of big cats." These animals do not form bonds with humans. In fact, they don't even make lasting bonds with other tigers. As long as handlers respect the boundary between them and the animals and take the necessary precautions, it seems that it is still possible to work with tigers. Still, I would not want to be the one acting beside it.
Here are a few clips of tigers in entertainment.
(A slightly less realistic depiction)
Resources:
This post reminded me of the Breland and Breland article (The Misbehavior of Organisms). The article discussed "instinctive drift," where learned behavior in animals gradually drifts toward instinctive behavior. I wonder if this idea could be applied to or explain why seemingly trained tigers suddenly attack their trainers (like the Sigfried and Roy accident)?
ReplyDeleteI do think it's interesting that we have found ways to domesticate specific animals, I think it's also very important to remember that these wild animals are still dangerous no matter how much extensive training they receive. If I was a trainer I would never be able to feel secure, I will always be thinking of them as a threat to me. You would think that people would be cautious about working with these animals but it sounds as if sometimes they are careless like in the case of Sigfried and Roy.
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