Animal trainers

[peter]

(12-17-2018, 04:57 PM)Kathlee111 Wrote: Hi! Where do we start?  I finally get here and no ones around! 
Ok, if anyone has any lion/ tiger things to discuss or questions for a trainer ( former) , lets go!
I worked for almost 10 years in a traveling lion/ tiger act and trained in various places; theme parks,  private sanctuaries. My mentors were well known lion / tiger trainers in US, but I dont answer questions about them too readily as they are immensely private. Most other questions are fine.
thanks!

Welcome to the forum, Kathlee!

Not many of our members have firsthand experience with captive big cats, meaning your opinion will be of interest for many. Here's 21 questions (...) to start.

Please don't feel obliged to answer all. Just pick one or two you like. Our members will let you know in what direction we will go. I hope we can get to a few debates. Many thanks for the effort on behalf of all.    

01 - In what way did you enter the world of animal training?    

02 - How long did it take you to bridge the gap between a decision and working with animals?

03 - What was the first thing you noticed in each of the big cat species?

04 - Are the differences you saw a result of individualism or would you say their way of thinking and acting is strongly related to species?

05 - Do adults have an outspoken personality? In what way are they, in this respect, different from, say, humans?

06 - In what way do big cats communicate to humans?

07 - Did you have to adapt in order to work with them? How did it make you feel? Any differences between species?

08 - As a former trainer, what will you remember most? And what not?

09 - What made you decide to step out?

10 - I interviewed a number of trainers. Some had mixed acts, whereas others worked with one species only. Some had big adults, whereas others worked with youngsters, adolescents or old animals. Some were trainers, whereas other were performers. I also interviewed two directors of training facilities. Everyone had a different opinion, but the directors agreed most of the time as they had seen hundreds of animals. Could you tell us a bit about the animals you worked with? Age, character and things like that. How many?

11 - Did you, apart from your mentors, talk lion or tiger with other trainers? If yes, did they have similar opinions?

12 - Did you talk to trainers who worked with big cats and bears? What did they see?

13 - Can you describe each of the species in a nutshell? Behavior. Character. Essentials.  

14 - Do big cats distinguish between male and female trainers? If so, in what way?

15 - Any indication of average weights of adults?

16 - Any differences between tiger subspecies? Is gender important?

17 - Do big cats tolerate each other? Any differences between species in this respect?

18 - Did you like one species in particular? Favorite individuals?

19 - Members of animals forum enjoy lion and tiger debates in particular. Could you describe the differences between both? Is gender important in this respect?

20 - Did you ever see wild big cats or talk to people who had? In what way are their captive relatives different?

21 - What's your opinion on the decision to exclude exotic animals from circuses? Reply