Animal trainers

[peter]

(12-02-2015, 10:14 PM)Pckts Wrote: Phenomenal post, Peter.
Thank you very much for the insight and detail.

One quick question, the bottom image with the tigers and lion side by side, is the crouching tiger a Tigress and the other two both males?

If so, are they related or have the males been sterilized?

Thanks again  

Some years ago, the director of the facility I often visited called me to tell me he had new Amurs. Not quite adult, but big. He also had a new male lion. The biggest he had seen, he said. I went over to see them. The Amurs and the new lion were not full-grown. All new males ranged between 400-440 pounds. About as much as most adults, but not yet quite as strong.  

The Amurs I measured were prime animals. Although not larger than the new Amurs, they were a bit bigger. You can feel the difference between young and old when you touch them. Mature tigers seem to be made of steel, whereas young adults are more flexible. Same in lions. 
     
The tigers in the photograph are the new Amurs. The lion is an old boy with a big mane. When I was there, I didn't see any animosity between them. I don't know if the new arrivals and the young male lion had been sterilized, but over here most are. 

The biggest lion I saw was the male in the Berlin Zoo. Very muscular and close to 550 empty. Apart from one exception (South Africa), i don't think I ever saw a male who compared. 

The biggest captive tigers are always Amurs. Those owned by the Argentinian trainer were the most formidable, but they had been mixed with Sumatrans (...). In robustness, chest included, they compared to the Berlin lion. The difference was they were longer and taller. All males had huge and very heavy skulls. Captive Amurs and captive lions compare in that they, most probably, are a bit bigger than their wild relatives. In all other tiger subspecies, it's the other way round.  

I noticed time and again that circus cats are more developed and healthier than zoo animals. Not larger or bulkier, but stronger and more developed in just about every department. Captive big cats need to be active, that is. They also benefit from interaction. Reply