Reader Wendell sent me this cool video, which I found on YouTube. I’m so jealous!
The YouTube notes:
This is how Bowmanville Zoo does it. We love our animals just like family. This is not a pet! Nor do we believe that exotic animals make good pets.
WARNING: Do not try this at home!
Bit of a mixed message there. What do they think pets are, if not animals that we treat like family?
If they post a video where the tiger is replaced with – say – a hippo, I might find this more believable.
“We only do this if (and only if) we come across as extremely cool.” would have been more honest.
Apart from that – did anybody understand what that recorded voice in the background is saying?
It sounded like a science TV show about cosmology, save they used the word, “creation,” far more than could reasonably be considered appropriate. But I couldn’t make out enough to tell more than that.
b&
I wondered about that background show, as well.
Yes, I was just going to comment on that.
Yes, I was wondering about the creation part as well …
meow
The tiger seemed very bored. While they’re wrapped up in their beer and TV they might at least provide some entertainment for Jonas.
Is there any need for zoos in this day and age? Shouldn’t this cat be outside, in some Asian jungle?
Zoos provide a means for people to get some contact with charismatic fauna, and thereby to develop awareness and caring about preserving the wild populations and their habitats.
Zoos are also an important means to secure the survival of many endangered species, and to breed them.
The tiger is beautiful, and I’m jealous, but not sure that a tiger in the house is a good idea.
Good for security, at least. “BEWARE OF THE TIGER!”. I’d think twice!
I think he’s just hanging out there and doesn’t live there.
So the message is: “This is not a pet! Nor do we believe that exotic animals make good pets.”
Combined with a video of a tiger being made to look like the world’s coolest pet.
Mixed message to say the least.
I must say it seems pretty stupid to keep something like this at home like a pet. Someone the other day said that our cats belong inside. I thought that strange but not as strange as this.
I know someone who keeps a Mastiff inside the house and thought that was pretty strange but not up there with this.
I agree it seems either inplausible or somewhat abusive that such a magnificent feline would be kept indoors and accustomed to humans as such. Therefore I simply choose to believe that this is at least partially staged. With that said, I’m jealous as hell and I want to pet such a great feline as well!
Okay reading the youtube comments further, this was apparently a zoo animal who was being accustomed to humans. Not that it makes it suddenly okay, but at least it seems Jonas was being taken care of somewhat professionally rather than being simple abused. But still, such a beautiful animal… I wish there was some other way to interact with them rather than via captivity.
But why would you be sitting around the living room eating food in front of this guy? Is that part of the breaking in as well? Let’s see if the tiger can watch people eat without eating them. Nice kitty.
Yes, I think Jonas hangs around the house PART of the time only.
People are being real sourpusses here!
In the sourpusses defense, this is the danger of the inter-tubes; it is a video clip out of context and without it the message is most certainly mixed.
Even on You Tube one has to dig through the comments to understand the true nature of this gorgeous beast and its caregivers.
A couple more introductory words from the originators (besides Do Not Try This at Home… isn’t that what they’re doing??)would go a long way to appeasing the instinctive reactions of viewers.
That being said, it is so fun to watch! Jonas reminds me of my Maine Coon when he’s bored. Once around the room, investigate all food-stuffs, drop like a lump with a Harrumph on the couch, repeat. This cat wants to play, but I’m guessing the string game is not a good idea for him… (o;
Back in ’83’ I worked for a company out of Arkansas that planted pine trees for paper companies all across the South: three crazy guys from Minnesota joined one crew and they had a half-grown Bengal tiger with them. It ate four whole chickens a day, and they liked to take it with them when they went grocery shopping on our weekly day off. They’d have it on a big chain in the back of their pickup and they’d pick out a black kid working in the store to carry out their groceries for them, just to see his reaction.
Although the Bowmanville Zoo is nice, the Elmvale Zoo near Barrie is a lot more intimate. Not only can you get quite close to a lot of animals, but they sell you food that you can feed the animals. Although some is limited to throwing at the cage, you can actually hand-feed giraffes among others.
One of my more entertaining moments there was when our kids were toddlers. We were near the tiger exhibit, when I realized the tigers were actually hunting my kids (hiding behind thrubs and leaping out as my kids ran along the fence). I’ll send Jerry some videos that he is welcome to post if he wishes.
I remember a snow leopard at Toronto Zoo giving my toddler son the greasy eyeball in his stroller as we walked around the cage. All the other zoogoers were aware that my son was the prospective prey.
What a magnificent animal a Tiger is, it all looks cosy but I suspect it won’t happen much longer looking at the size of him now.
According to the Youtube comments, the video was taken in 2008. And unfortunately, the animal succumbed to a medical condition a few years later.
I never noticed the white behind a tiger’s ears like that before.
More info on this animal: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/02/26/life_of_pis_oscar_stirs_sweet_memories_of_the_life_of_jonas_the_tiger_one_of_films_stars.html
“we believe that exotic animals make good pets.” … in the same way that humans make good tattered wrecks of torn flesh.