I think being able to interact with Gorillas is useful in terms of being able to treat them during illness etc, but not every Gorilla enjoys the close company of humans. For example; the female 'Kaja' (who is now at Chessington) consistently rejected human attempts to interact with her at Howletts and would 'cough threat' when anyone tried to engage her in play.
Hand-rearing Captive Predators
- Thread starter JonnyS18
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I think being able to interact with Gorillas is useful in terms of being able to treat them during illness etc, but not every Gorilla enjoys the close company of humans. For example; the female 'Kaja' (who is now at Chessington) consistently rejected human attempts to interact with her at Howletts and would 'cough threat' when anyone tried to engage her in play.
taun
Well-Known Member
mr.felidae
Well-Known Member
Sadly Kaja is no longer with us :'(
Sorry to hear that. When did she die?
I did hear that she was in poor health and wasn't expected to live much longer.mr.felidae
Well-Known Member
Im not sure which day exactly but it was in the 1st week of September, apparently there were complications with her gut, and the desision was made to euthanase her
JerseyLotte
Well-Known Member
The things you suggest as potential triggers are all too obvious. Animals are "unpredictable" by nature, that is to say, it is impossible for us to interpret their behaviour correctly everytime, it is impossible for us to imagine and therefore avoid every potential trigger for that individual or for that species.
If you do ever go on to work closely with these animals I personally hope for your sake that you always remember;
It is the individual's perogative to deny the keeper/animal bond at any given time, they can and will interpret conditions, noises, smells, your behaviour and body language in a way you didn't intend and cannot control. It is up to you safe guard yourself against the fallout when this happens.
Never believe that you have truly developed a bond of "trust" or "friendship" with an animal in your care, or you will risk the consequences.
I agree with you Jersey Lotte, Animals are unpredictible by nature we can never be certain on what they are thinking. It is impossible to know everything there is to know about a certain animal.Like i have said before i do not intend in going with the odd lion or tiger whenever i like. Far from that!
Thanks Jersey Lotte for your words of advice.I dont intend in blinding myself completely from the unpredictableness of Big Cats i know all too well of the circumstances that can occur.
Thanks Jersey Lotte for your words of advice.I dont intend in blinding myself completely from the unpredictableness of Big Cats i know all too well of the circumstances that can occur.
JerseyLotte
Well-Known Member
No worries matey
I just wanted to ensure your belief in a method doesn't go unbalanced It's the animals you feel most comfortable with, most confident and assured of your contact and bond that will turn around and mess you up!
I know we're talking mammals really here but the principles of self preservation are the same, we have a pair of 15' burms, it's the one that seems puppydog tame and shows no interest in your presence that will be the first to cause someone real damage, well before the female that tracks you and openly intends to hunt you down if given the chance!
Always remember;
Complacency killed the Keeper.
Lotte***
johnstoni
Well-Known Member
I don't think anyone on here would assume that Balkash was an 'unpredictable bloodthirsty beast', but therein lies the tragedy of it - large cats do not always know their own strength when interacting with their human equals. It takes a fraction of a section and a playful bite from a tiger to kill someone, I don't believe this is in any way a reflection on the temperment of the animal, although of course some tigers are less friendly than others.
You've got it Johnstoni. Big Cats are too friendly for their own good. If they have got to know you and one as a cub they will sit on your lap, 8 months later they will still want to! - They are very unaware of their own strength and that is quite often what leads to the death of keepers - ingaging in fight that is too rough for them but what the tiger/other big cat thinks is suitable.
Handling cats
Some interesting comments from this thread. My opinion is that while handling large predators is obviously can be a dangerous exercise but allows a great number of advantages over the alternative.
Enrichment is enhanced by being able to move/walk a cat in appropriate circumstances.
Death rates of cubs are lower from hand-reared animals than from mother reared.
Presentations involving demonstrations of natural abilities is not only good for the animals but also lets visitors see something that that they may both enjoy and learn from.
At Tiger Island at Dreamworld in Australia they have now donated over 1.1 million dollars to in-situ conservation projects over the past 10 years. The programs that they do with the cats and ability to capture an audience has enabled this to happen, to the benefit of wild tiger conservation.
Some interesting comments from this thread. My opinion is that while handling large predators is obviously can be a dangerous exercise but allows a great number of advantages over the alternative.
Enrichment is enhanced by being able to move/walk a cat in appropriate circumstances.
Death rates of cubs are lower from hand-reared animals than from mother reared.
Presentations involving demonstrations of natural abilities is not only good for the animals but also lets visitors see something that that they may both enjoy and learn from.
At Tiger Island at Dreamworld in Australia they have now donated over 1.1 million dollars to in-situ conservation projects over the past 10 years. The programs that they do with the cats and ability to capture an audience has enabled this to happen, to the benefit of wild tiger conservation.
Peter Dickinson
Well-Known Member
I was answering an email query this morning about hand rearing of big cats and was inspired to write Hand Rearing Big Cats and Other Carnivores . It was only afterwards that I checked to see if there was a thread here. Some interesting input.
An unfriendly tiger would not be involved in playing in the first place. It would be giving off very obvious signals to repel any unwanted visitor. So it must be true that deaths normally occur when a 'playful' tiger gets carried away.
The other two incidents at Howletts didn't involve 'play' as the keepers were not in the enclosure with the Tigress- she leapt the fence between enclosures to get to them, but I think at least in one case, her cubs were still in the same enclosure with the keepers- the reason for her attack?
Great Writing Peter Dickinson!
One o fmy principles as it seems to be yours is that Big Cats and be it any animal should grow up with its own kind.Hand Rearing should only be the last option but if hand-rearing a cub - To keep it mentally a tiger, steps can be taken - Getting used to other cats is very important if it can be an enclosure at a young age next to other Tigers maybe elder individuals or younger near the same age.Then when the keeper is not around looking after it it is near to its own kind and interact with its own kind and then the aim in all of this is introducing it to its own kind again.
These methods have been used before at Howletts and Port Lympne are one of them.
I believe one of them, the latter one? - The cub was in there while it was being cleaned out.Possibly but i think i remember it saying Zaya wasnt very close to her cub at all and the cub did not follow one of the reasons for keeping it in the main enclosure.And after the attack Zaya did not go to her cub at all so im not sure possibility it had something to do with it but Zaya had allready attacked a previous keeper so i really dont know - dont think anyone does straight after that Zaya was shot by John Aspinall.
One o fmy principles as it seems to be yours is that Big Cats and be it any animal should grow up with its own kind.Hand Rearing should only be the last option but if hand-rearing a cub - To keep it mentally a tiger, steps can be taken - Getting used to other cats is very important if it can be an enclosure at a young age next to other Tigers maybe elder individuals or younger near the same age.Then when the keeper is not around looking after it it is near to its own kind and interact with its own kind and then the aim in all of this is introducing it to its own kind again.
These methods have been used before at Howletts and Port Lympne are one of them.
I believe one of them, the latter one? - The cub was in there while it was being cleaned out.Possibly but i think i remember it saying Zaya wasnt very close to her cub at all and the cub did not follow one of the reasons for keeping it in the main enclosure.And after the attack Zaya did not go to her cub at all so im not sure possibility it had something to do with it but Zaya had allready attacked a previous keeper so i really dont know - dont think anyone does straight after that Zaya was shot by John Aspinall.
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Hand rearing
Peter Dickinson has sighted some horrific examples of facilities that have terrible conditions and do little or nothing towards conservation of tigers or any other feline in their collections.
There are though credible institutions that do hand-rear cats with success. It can be well done and professional. Too often zoos get stuck in the "box".
Peter Dickinson has sighted some horrific examples of facilities that have terrible conditions and do little or nothing towards conservation of tigers or any other feline in their collections.
There are though credible institutions that do hand-rear cats with success. It can be well done and professional. Too often zoos get stuck in the "box".