White tiger kills 22-year-old man in Delhi Zoo

[Amarpreet]

http://m.indiatoday.in/story/white-tige ... 84503.html

I am surprised at people blaming the tiger or zoo authorities. It is similiar to blaming the railways if you fall asleep on a railway track.

[timmy]

This is a sad thing. But whether the young man jumped or fell is immaterial. The tiger did what tigers do -- there would hardly be any point in taking action against the tiger.

[bennedose]

Most of the zoo tiger attacks I read about end up being the fault of the human. There was that news story of the drunk in Kolkata zoo who dreamt that Kali maa was a tigress whom he had to garland. Needless to say the tigress finished him off when he enetered the enclosure to place a garland.

In a sad case in Bannerghatta park near Bangalore a grandfather allowed his grandson to put his little arm outside the mesh window of a safari bus to offer a tiger biscuits. The tiger took the arm.

Tigers are the biggest land carnivores - adult tigers weigh one and a half times more than adult lions despite the latter's reputation as kings. One news item (I think it was in Turkey) - the boundary fence betwen a tiger enclosure and alion enclosure opened up and the tiger went and kiled the lion.

The speed and ferocity of tigers is fearsome - this video shows a tger attack on a mahout in Kaziranga. The mahout survived but lost a finger or two.

[youtube][/youtube]

[brihacharan]

Zoo Keepers should be more vigilant to prevent this sort of mishaps....
Animal behaviour is unpredictable hence the onus is on the people who visit zoos & game parks....
Briha

[Amarpreet]

I agree Briha sir. Keepers should be more vigilant but whats to prevent people from acting rash. Read an article in the delhi TOI that the victim had psychological issues also and was undergoing medical treatment for the same.
Even though the tiger was born and raised in captivity, he followed his instincts.

[dr.jayakumar]

Its very sad for the boy. i have seen people pelting stones on animals in wildlife park.they donot understand the wildlife behaviour.though there are warning signs and boards people donot bother.about 20 yrs back a child was killed by a tiger in banargetta national park when the kids grandfather carrying her ,mocked to throw her to the tigers.
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j ... 0860,d.c2E even this incident could have resulted in a disater,he must be thinking he is a hero,but he was very very lucky.
regards
dr.jk

[StampMaster]

It is not the tiger to blame but the victim and the zoo authorities. Zoo authorities should have been more vigilant about tourist activities and should have made backup plans if something goes wrong. The zoo staff- beat person, security, doctors were all not available on time, for 10-15 mins the boy was unharmed and this interval was good enough to save him.

Zoo authorities and dangerous animal security guards have to be trained well to take care of emergency situations.

[essdee1972]

Apart from people taking risks near wild animal, 100 times as powerful as they are, the mentality of the "audience public" is also to blame. Every day, from 9 to 5, the poor animals have to endure hundreds of puny humans yelling, screaming, making faces, growling, and so on. Many people also take pics with flash on. For animals, with eyes adapted to low light and night hunting, a flash is sheer torture.

Plus, an animal used to wide open spaces, forests, fresh air, and loads of exercise (even if bred in captivity) is forced to stay in captivity in a tiny cage where he has barely room to move around. We all know that even pet animals become fractious and aggressive if not exercised regularly, so the zoo animals are more likely to be so.

The onlookers, who had enough presence of mind to take mobile pics and videos, and "viral" the same on all forums, were probably sleeping when the chap was actually climbing over! Even when the guard reportedly stopped him twice (zoo guards can only warn you, they are not authorised to physically stop you), other people were probably engaged in posting their "visit to the zoo" pics on social media!

Look at the incident from the tiger's point of view. Every day you are taunted, teased, have stones chucked at you, by a bunch of strange two-legged creatures. One day one of them jumps into your home (the only home the poor tiger has ever known). You (the tiger) keep quiet for 15 minutes ....... 15 minutes you don't say anything to a "creature" making an unauthorised entry into your home! Then the other two-legged creatures start making a great hullabaloo, banging sticks threateningly, pelting stones at you. You get hurt. The genes in you - the genes of the King of the Jungle - speak out loud against this injustice, and you whack this puny little thing with one powerful paw, grab him by the head and give him a good shaking.

How many of us will have the patience to wait 15 minutes and getting stoned before taking action on a "home invader"???

[dr.jayakumar]

Apart from people taking risks near wild animal, 100 times as powerful as they are, the mentality of the "audience public" is also to blame. Every day, from 9 to 5, the poor animals have to endure hundreds of puny humans yelling, screaming, making faces, growling, and so on. Many people also take pics with flash on. For animals, with eyes adapted to low light and night hunting, a flash is sheer torture.

Plus, an animal used to wide open spaces, forests, fresh air, and loads of exercise (even if bred in captivity) is forced to stay in captivity in a tiny cage where he has barely room to move around. We all know that even pet animals become fractious and aggressive if not exercised regularly, so the zoo animals are more likely to be so.

The onlookers, who had enough presence of mind to take mobile pics and videos, and "viral" the same on all forums, were probably sleeping when the chap was actually climbing over! Even when the guard reportedly stopped him twice (zoo guards can only warn you, they are not authorised to physically stop you), other people were probably engaged in posting their "visit to the zoo" pics on social media!

Look at the incident from the tiger's point of view. Every day you are taunted, teased, have stones chucked at you, by a bunch of strange two-legged creatures. One day one of them jumps into your home (the only home the poor tiger has ever known). You (the tiger) keep quiet for 15 minutes ....... 15 minutes you don't say anything to a "creature" making an unauthorised entry into your home! Then the other two-legged creatures start making a great hullabaloo, banging sticks threateningly, pelting stones at you. You get hurt. The genes in you - the genes of the King of the Jungle - speak out loud against this injustice, and you whack this puny little thing with one powerful paw, grab him by the head and give him a good shaking.

How many of us will have the patience to wait 15 minutes and getting stoned before taking action on a "home invader"???

you are absolutely right.
regards
dr.jk

[kshitij]

On a lighter note, the infamous Kamal R Khan (supposedly an actor but best known for his anti Modi rants) has claimed that he is ready to walk into the tigers cage and avenge the youngster by having a duel to death with the tiger
I for one would be glad to see how that turns out!

[brihacharan]

On a lighter note, the infamous Kamal R Khan (supposedly an actor but best known for his anti Modi rants) has claimed that he is ready to walk into the tigers cage and avenge the youngster by having a duel to death with the tiger
I for one would be glad to see how that turns out!

> Wouldn't that be fun....
to see what "KAMAL" he does once he is face to face with the Tiger that has already tasted human blood
Briha

[essdee1972]

I bet on the tiger, Kshitij, and also am willing to cheer for him, albeit from a safe distance!

[kshitij]

We will all be cheering for the tiger. But if you have seen any of this jokers youtube rants, it will be clear that he will leave a bad taste in the poor feline's mouth...

[dr.jayakumar]

Before this post i never knew MR.kamal r khan.maybe he is fishing for publicity.
regards
dr.jk

[essdee1972]

Mr. Khan changed his name (it seems) so that he can call himself KRK, just like the slightly more famous SRK!! Check out the video where he says KRK is better than SRK!!

Before this KRK fellow hijacks the topic, I would like to point out that one of the reasons why you see such antics / tragedies in Indian zoos is the dirt-cheap entry fees. It is usually 10 bucks or 20 bucks for adults and half of that for kids (don't know about Delhi zoo, though). If you check out the best managed zoo in India - Mysore - it is substantially more expensive (I believe it was 50 bucks when I visited in 2009). Not only are these low rates cutting into the zoo's finances, they also allow any Tom, Dick, or Harry to walk in by paying the price of one or two kingsize cigarettes (the only analogy which occurs to a smoker)!

Another tragedy of our embracing socialism for 50 years? But what the powers-that-be have forgotten is that today, the incomes of even the poorer segments have risen sharply. They can actually afford to pay 50 bucks or even more for what is essentially a once-a-year trip. You can see "poor" people from slums in multiplexes eating drinking 100 rupee colas and watching 300 rupee movies!

Moreover, zoos today are (or rather should be) more of conservation efforts than animal exhibits. Ergo, they need more funds and less people. With less people, the serious visitors can actually enjoy the zoo more. My son, for instance, gets extremely irritated with the loudmouths and clowns.

Other zoos can also adopt the Mysore model of people adopting (and hence paying for) animals. There are boards put up with the names of the people and the animals they have adopted. One white tiger, I remember, had some 8 or 9 people sharing in its adoption, which indicates that you can spend a comparatively small amount along with other nice people to keep a tiger healthy.

I wouldn't mind sharing the costs of a tiger (or a kangaroo for that matter) with a few others, but I live in Mumbai, whose zoo is the most pathetic, most painful zoo I have ever seen. Beautification consists of cutting trees and concretising the kachcha walkways!