- Joined: July 1999
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"A caretaker at Tippi Hedren's animal sanctuary was critically mauled by a Bengal tiger, an attack the actress blamed not on the animal but on breeders.
Chris Orr, 40, was bitten Monday in the neck at Shambala Preserve while cleaning the tiger's cage at the 80-acre wildlife habitat in Acton.
He was flown to a hospital in critical but stable condition, said Art Marrujo, a county Fire Department dispatch supervisor.
"This is a terrible shock to us," Hedren told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
Hedren said she didn't know what may have set the 4-year-old tiger off. She said she rescued the animal in 2003 after state regulators shut down a facility that was illegally breeding tigers.
"We'll never know why these animals do these things," Hedren said."
I read these reports every few months and am always suitably shocked.
More so this time.
Tippi...IT'S A TIGER!
Years ago my wife and I became friends with the owner of a local exotic animal rescue facility.
Like Tippi has.
We saw the continuing need and so we built an enclosure to what were at that time the Texas standards for keeping a tiger or lion.
It's still in my backyard, over 700 square feet, and has been empty for a long time.
But, when there was a leopard, and after that a mountain lion in the enclosure....NEVER was anyone in the cage with the animal.
It's not safe.
So, how do you clean and feed, safely?
There's really TWO cages, separated by a guillotine style door. Whatever side the animal is on, it's OK to go in the other and work.
Too bad Mr. Orr thought that he had such a special rerlationship with a TIGER and forgot that it's a TIGER.
"No one would know us there."
-Far From Heaven- (2002)
- Joined: December 1998
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Post Count: 2,069
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
I have to agree. The cages must be setup to isolate the big cats from whomever is cleaning the cages.
Johnny
www.teamfurr.org
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that...
- Joined: January 2003
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Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
You know I always get a kick out of stories like this (obviously, not because someone was seriously hurt) because of the kooks who never seem to want to believe how dangerous these animals really are. "The grand noble beast would never hurt anyone, the trainer must have done something." I remeber that when Roy of "Sigfreid and Roy" was attacked he gave some ridiculous excuse that the tiger was "protecting" him in some way
Although in all honesty, even though it sounds cold, I could never muster a ton of sympathy for those who think they have that "special relationship" with the dangerous animal whom that animal eventually turns on. Take for example that "Grizzly Man" guy. To me, that guy was such a whack job who mistakenly believed that he was "one" with the bears that his ultimate fate actually came off to me as darlky humorous rather that shocking (not saying I'm glad the guy is dead or anything like that)
STOP HIM! He's supposed to die!
- Joined: October 2006
- Location: The Leeward Islands
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Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
Even large, obviously domestic animals like pigs or bulls can be extremely dangerous, and they aren't predators. I'm not sure why anyone would think a large carnivorous cat would be safe to be around.
Lay down your law books now, they're no damned good -- The Eagles
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
I have enough trouble keeping Fluffy Pumpkin in line, and he's only 19 lbs. I can only imagine how dangerous a cat can be at several hundred lbs.
Isn't it true that lions can become partially domesticated, but that tigers never can?
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: July 1999
- Location: The stars at night.....
- Post Count: 4,273
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
Thanks Dennis,
My first great laugh of the day....I love that Orange Boy!
"No one would know us there."
-Far From Heaven- (2002)
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
Kitty! Dinner time!
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
And in another similar story....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i092719S69.DTL
You know, was it really that important to get that last photo?
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: July 1999
- Location: The stars at night.....
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Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
The family will never forget their day at the park.
"No one would know us there."
-Far From Heaven- (2002)
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
Well tigers keep being tigers.
Investigation continues into fatal tiger attack at S.F. zoo
Somehow a rare Siberian Tiger female got out of her "grotto" and basically ate one guy and chewed up two others. It will probably take a good deal of time to get to the bottom of this story, although there are wild innuendos flying around the web about this story. Just read the many pages of comments at sfgate to get a flavor of them. Or this story:
FOXNews.com - Police: San Francisco Tiger Attack May Have Been Provoked - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
I first read this story late last night before bedtime. Around 4 AM I woke up in the dark to hear the heavy breathing of a big cat nearby and just about freaked. Fortunately it was just Fluffy Pumpkin coming up close for a kiss on the nose.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: October 2006
- Location: The Leeward Islands
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Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
It saddens me that they had to kill the tiger in this instance, but they no real choice, from everything I've heard.
Lay down your law books now, they're no damned good -- The Eagles
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
My question earlier was whether lions could be pets but tigers never could.
I had a close encounter with an african lion cub around 1976. I was in grad school at UC San Diego, and a roommate's family's neighbor had a "bootleg" cub. Once they gave me the "once over" to see if I was the kind of guy who would turn them in, they let kitty into the room. Kitty was about 40 lbs at the time - about the size of a full-grown German Shepard - but was really friendly with me. He put his head into my lap and begged for cuddles. It was a wonderful experience to cuddle with a lion, but even at the time I realized that the future for this cub was bleak. Fluffy Pumpkin is around 20 lbs now and is as big a kitty as I want around on a daily basis.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: October 1998
- Location: Boise ID
- Post Count: 7,206
Re: Tiger mauls man at actress' preserve
There's just something so odd about humans' makeup...the big cats are the most dangerous land predators but there's something about their nature that makes us want to go up and cuddle with them. One would never jump into the water to cuddle up with a shark, but somehow there's the urge in humans to try that with the big cats. That lion cub I cuddled with responded most strongly to my affection, but when he grew up all bets were off.
Feline videophiles Susie and Dukie.
- Joined: October 2006
- Location: The Leeward Islands
- Post Count: 698
Lay down your law books now, they're no damned good -- The Eagles
