The Tiger

When Mike Tyson was released from prison in 1995 after a three-year stretch, he was talked into buying a white Bengal tiger for around $65,000. In all he owned three white Bengal tigers over a period of time. He lived in Las Vegas at the time in between two houses and in one was a businessman who kept dogs. One day he was walking his Bengal tiger on a leash like a pet and the tiger saw the dogs. It jumped up onto his neighbour's property's wall to attack the dogs to eat them. The owner of the property saw this and Mike Tyson managed to pull the tiger down. Good old Mike used his innate strength to good effect. Mike Tyson with at pet white Bengal tiger in 1989. Credit: Getty - Contributor It seems that the property owner telephoned the ASPCA about it and they came around to Mike Tyson's home and told him that he was not allowed to keep the tiger in captivity. Clearly in Las Vegas you need a licence to keep a tiger. That isn't the case across the whole of the USA but it p...

It is reported that Bengal tigers killed more than 100 people in India in three years. In fact, 108 died between 2019 and last year according to junior environment minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey in Parliament. The human conflict with the Bengal tiger is an ongoing problem. It is brought about because of a lack of space. India is a highly populated country. Tigers require very large amounts of territory in order to behave naturally. The tiger reserves in India are arguably too small. At least some of them are. And you will get settlements on the outskirts of tiger reserves and you will even see people living inside the reserves. To an outsider that seems strange. A tiger walks past a vehicle carrying tourists at Ranthambore National Park, India. Photo in public domain. You will get farmers being attacked by tigers. In the Sundarbans which straddle the border with Bangladesh, there appears to be more human-tiger conflict than in other tiger reserves. This is probably because there are mo...

It is reported that Joe Exotic 58, is going to be released early from his 22-year prison sentence for conspiring to murder Carole Baskin. The Sun tell us that his sentence is due to be changed. They say he will soon walk free from prison. And on that basis, he has big plans.  Joe Exotic and tiger. Pic in public domain. He wants a new boyfriend and to meet that requirement he is preparing to star in his own dating show. The TV companies will be lining up to hire him. He also has plans to start up his own cannabis production line. The dating show will be called "Bachelor King" after the label that the media has given him which is "Tiger King" because he peddled in captive tigers and abused them. It is funny how people forget how he exploited and abused tiger cubs. He was one of the big four exploiters of tigers in America for many years. He was cruel to tigers . At one time he had the largest private zoo in America with the greatest number of big cats. You may reme...

A specialist eye veterinarian decided that a 17-year-old Sumatran tiger, Ratna, had injured her left eye when, perhaps, it had been jabbed by a stick of bamboo in her enclosure. Sometime earlier she had had a cataract operation on the eye but in this instance, it was a first. Apparently, cataract operations on tigers are not that uncommon but it was a first to remedy a corneal ulcer and a deteriorating eye. Ratna a Sumatran tiger with corneal ulcer in her left eye. Photo: Shepreth Wildlife Park The surgeon is Dr. David Williams from the Queen's Veterinary School Hospital at the University of Cambridge. After two months of post-operation monitoring, he declared that he was delighted with the outcome and that he was able to "sign Ratna off". The eye has fully healed. Corneal surgery is not uncommon on domestic cats and dogs but it requires a lot more anaesthetic on an adult tiger, for obvious reasons. Ratna lives it Shepreth Wildlife Park near Cambridge, UK. She was move...

COMMENT AND REPORT ON TIGER NEWS: This is a tragic story because the Amur tiger is rare. There are desperate measures being taken to protect and conserve this iconic animal. They live in the Far East of Russia, in that icy wilderness of birch trees and snowy landscapes. They are large animals. They've evolved that way to keep warm in the cold climate. It is believed that there are 500 left in the world. This puts pressure on zoos to try and breed them successfully.  Artificial insemination of a captive Amur tiger killed it. Photo: Cheyenne Mountain Zoom. Tigers usually breed well in zoos but in this instance, at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, they tried artificial insemination of a female, Savelii, because their resident male wouldn't mate with her to produce offspring naturally. The operation went badly wrong and it killed her. A spokesperson for the zoo, Bob Chastain, said that: "She passed due to complications during recovery from this impo...

On the whole, tigers are well tempered creatures disinterested in attacking people. They prefer to avoid humans and normally give them a wide berth. Even if they are provoked they will growl back and if provoked further they may rush at the person combined with a loud roar but they will not attack. Their intention is to avoid attack and to see the person off. Occasionally a tiger may object to a person approaching too closely to her cubs or to their kill that they are guarding. But one of the great so-called big-game hunters of that era, Jim Corbett, said that if a person is attacked by a tiger the blame rests with the intruder. Champawat tiger. Image in public domain due to lapse of time. It is said that if tigers and lions which attack people in an unprovoked manner it is possibly or probably due to the fact that the tiger is injured and unable to successfully bring down a typical prey animal. They therefore have to resort to much easier prey i.e. the human. This topic is relevant...

Carole Baskin, the founder and manager of Big Cat Rescue in Florida is a genuine animal advocate and conservationist. She has many critics because she's an outspoken person but I am one of her supporters and admirers.  Doc Antle. Screenshot from video. I believe that she is genuine and she's good for big cat welfare. She's been trying to push through animal welfare law to protect big cats in America where they are kept as pets and where tiger and lion cubs are exploited in roadside zoos for photography and petting sessions. She is behind the Big Cat Safety Act which has been introduced into the federal legislature. One of the biggest exploiters of that money spinning business was exotically named Bhagavan "Doc" Antle. He was (his time has come to an end) one of the big four "Tiger Kings", all of whom have been indicted for animal cruelty. He owns the Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina.  Carole Baskin. Photo: BCR. Carole Baskin believes that Antle ...