Results tagged “tiger”

Since Connecticut has banned the ownership of exotic animals—including gorillas, chimps, orangutans, lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, ocelots, bobcats and other big, wild cats, wolves, coyotes and bears—as pets, the state is offering a one-day amnesty program that will allow people to bring in their exotic and illegal pets to a zoo without repercussions. The Connecticut Post reports, "All animals collected become property of the DEP... homes will be found for the animals, though probably not at the zoo. Most of the pets will likely go to wildlife sanctuaries or other agencies equipped to handle them." The director of the Beardsley Zoo, where owners can turn in their pets on July 25, Gregg Dancho said he's seen monkeys hanging out in kitchen and people walking mountain lions, "A lot of times, this is impulse buying." Oh, this reminds us of Ming, the tiger found in a Harlem apartment nearly six years ago.

Finally, we all have closure for a 2004 incident where a tiger from the Cole Bros. Circus escaped, ran along the Jackie Robinson Highway, and then passed out in some bushes. See, drivers who caught glimpse of Apollo, a 450-pound tiger, were naturally startled and ended up in a five-car pile-up (started when one driver didn't want to hit the huge creature). And, naturally, those drivers sued. 1010WINS reports that the tiger's trainer will pay a near $1 million settlement to two drivers "both claimed to have suffered devastating back injuries in the chain-reaction car crash." Apollo's escape at the time gave State Senator Carl Kruger more reason to ban the circus, especially considering Cole Bros. had also included flying cats.

In the wake of the horrific tiger escape resulting in one death and two injuries at the San Francisco Zoo, zoos around the country are examining their tiger exhibit set-ups. Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo has the following set-up, per the Post:

Tiger Mountain is surrounded by a moat about 10 feet wide and is enclosed by a fence that is 15 feet high and has a five-foot overhang. That means that the last five feet slant inward.

Continue reading "New Yorkers Not Worried About Tigers Escaping Zoo"

It may not be sweeps months, but WCBS 2 had a segment about a 12-week tiger cub who got a CT scan at a Long Island animal hospital. It's way easier on the eyes than the "woman who had a coat rack stuck in her face" story. Simba, a Siberian tiger at an Ohio zoo, was going to be put to sleep because she had a very bad sense of balance and could possibly...