A Picture is Worth... Girls Swimming with Tigers
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 10.20.08
Update: We had to remove the photos from this article at the request of the copyright owner. Sorry.
Can You Hear Purring Underwater?
A year and a half ago, I posted a very cool picture of a white tiger underwater. Believe it or not, but that article is still getting good traffic. Seems like there is demand for underwater tigers, for some reason.
So here's a crowd pleaser. Enjoy! More pics below.
Update: Okay, here's a bit more context:
These girls are trainers, and apparently tigers love to play in the water.
Here's what the Telegraph says:
"Traditionally, trainers have struggled to build an attachment with the largest of the big cats but The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, or TIGERS, near Miami, claims to have overcome the problem by encouraging both tigers and humans to swim together in a specially adapted pool.
Tigers are known as the best swimmers of all the big cats with modified webbing between their toes to make their feet more like flippers. The hand-reared tigers are introduced to the water a few months after birth and the trainers then give one-on-one tuition to each of the animals while they are in the water."
Via The Telegraph.
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Not even an explanation as to why this girl is choking a tiger underwater???
That white tiger picture was much scarier than this one.
Still, unless that woman has a REALLY good reason for being underwater and a lot of training, or a tranquilized tiger, swimming with a large predatory animal seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do.
Oh, to be a tiger in need of training.
these girls are actually hot but are crazy as hell for swimming around with tigers the way they are. It would be hard to feel sorry for them if you read about a tiger attack the next day.
Sounds like they are paired up from birth. If it's not harming either the trainers, or the cats, and we're learning something from it, I say, to each their own!
Andrew - if that tiger is even vaguely related to my cats in a "all cats enjoy scratching" way - then she's scratching under his neck and up by his ears. He's probably purring or chuffing at her.
We took a field trip (as a family) to the Cat Sanctuary in Texas a few years ago and the trainers there said that the Tigers get to know their caretaker people and will chuff at them when they see them (a sound unique to Tigers) and know when it's play time or food time. The time that's generally the most dangerous is when they haven't eaten yet - you show up with food or take a huge risk. So I assume that these guys are well fed and this is maybe post-lunch playtime.
They've also probably got a height/weight restriction. Anything under 4-5' is generally seen as a small animal and therefore food by the Tigers.
This is an amazing story. I like to see that people are doing something aside from fighting legislation to protect animals (Palin.)
My question is why? Is this just another way to use an animal for money, such as in Sea World? Is there a scientific purpose behind it all? Or is this the only way we can save them?
Anyone who knows anything about the Great Cats-lions and tigers, knows that they can't purr, but they do make other noises. They are physical unable to purr, just as the smaller cats like cougers, leopards, panthers, right down to our house cats can't roar.