There's about 2 foot at a guess between the wire of the enclosure and the wooden barrier the public stand behind, with hedging in between. So yes, very close really, and he was being very obliging photo-wise.
When I was there last, there was a child aged about 6 or 7 who was running up and down shouting to Tyge and getting him to chase him. I suppose you can argue it was exercise for him, in the same way you get a domestic cat to chase a piece of string, and I guess he could have sauntered away, but I was a bit about it as I've always told my daughter not to tease animals. This boy's grandmother seemed to think it was hilarious though.
As he was handreared Tige does like to play chase, it got quite painful as he got bigger!!!He will interact with humans much more than he does with Demelza but there is a fine lijne between playing and teasing, I often wonder if these people would do the same if they we actually in the enclousre?
