Animal trainers

[Pckts]

Ok, so it was Roth who trained Beatty and Stark than?

On a side note, in regards to wild lion and tiger ages.
I don't think the analogy of human age can be used, since the reason humans live longer now is partly because we no longer live by "survival of the fittest" as well as the fact that medication and diagnosis no longer allows death to take hold of illnesses that are minor. I:E: Common Cold, Chicken Pox, Infection etc. Being able to vaccinate these illnesses as well as treat major illness such as cancers or heart disease, etc. Is what truly allows humans to live longer and longer.

But I digress,  back to the point.

What age did Notch die at? I know you can find claims of tigers making it to 15 or older but realistically that isn't the case. Tigers that we know of are usually in the highest protected areas, even medicated by humans when sick (Ustaad, Machli) and the same goes for lions (the female slashed by the buffalo) etc. 
These aren't true ages, not saying corbetts tiger wasn't 15 or older or the S. Indian tiger wasn't 20, it can happen. But I believe it can happen in any cat species as long as the conditions are right, like a 100 year old human, it doesn't happen often but it will happen from time to time.
Its also very hard to even monitor a tiger for its life, just look at Waghdoh, Shivaji, Sultan etc. We don't know if they are alive or not, Waghodh at least was seen about a year ago so theres a good chance he's alive, but its still all hearsay until we know for sure.

I don't doubt that Lions live a hard life, but I don't think they live a harder life than other big cats. If we break down the pros and cons to a lions life compared to a Tiger, Leopard, Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar etc. I think we can find challenges in their lives that they have had to adapt and evolve to. Especially with the wide range of habitat an animal like a leopard, Puma, Jaguar and Tiger can live in. They live everywhere from the tallest peaks to the desert, to snow. If we look at gir lions, we can see that living in india is a different life style than africa, and I'm sure living in certain parts of africa yield very different life styles as well. While lions live a competitive life with other lions, they also live a protected life, their cubs are watched over, food is easily brought down, when its abundant and depending on the area, some places don't see extreme fluctuations in the temperature, some do of course.

I guess what I'm saying is this, lifestyle is very subjective, all wild animals live with their own challenges and that is why evolution has adapted certain species to only live in certain places, but I think we can find extreme ages throughout. Its just a matter of luck and health, if both come at the right time, you will unusual results.

Either way, tfs @peter, very nicely written, per usual.


One last thing:
On rewilding big cats, if you have an Instagram I very highly suggest you take a look at "jaguarsintothewild"
What they are doing is ground breaking and it looks as though they are successfully reintroducing these cats back. They teach them skills in a controlled environment but they never let the cats interact with humans, they give them large enclosures, enrichment and challenges they'd face in the wild, its still early and we all know it will take time to see if this is truly successful, but its a new tactic that may be beneficial for these cats in the future. Even Varty has had success with his Tiger Canyon project, albeit they live in an enclosed area, no idea how'd they'd fair in the true wild though. Reply