Australia Zoo handler Dave Styles returns to tiger’s den after recovering from mauling
Peter Hall
News Limited
May 30, 2014
A TIGER handler mauled at Australia Zoo says he’s happy to be back
working with the big cat, which he claimed played “a little too rough.”
Dave Styles was pounced on by the tiger, named Charlie, in full
view of a shocked audience at the Sunshine Coast attraction in November
last year. The handler suffered puncture wounds to his
neck and significant blood loss and was flown to the Royal Brisbane and
Women’s Hospital, where he spent 10 days in intensive care.
The
114kg tiger lunged at him after he entered its enclosure with a camera
on his head and wearing a blue plastic, poncho-like top as part of
preparation for a BBC documentary being filmed at the zoo.
Tiger handler Dave Styles is attacked by 114kg Sumatran-Bengal tiger Charlie at Australia Zoo's tiger enclosure. Pics: Channel 7
The unfamiliar outfit, designed to
replicate garbage bags the playful cats were given as a biting toy, was
cited as a reason for the out-of-character attack.
The zoo said
the GoPro camera had not been filming at the time; however, photographs
of the attack showed the camera’s red operating light was on.
Mr Styles recently returned to work and a personal letter about his ordeal has been published in the zoo’s magazine, Crikey.
Australia Zoo handler Dave Styles
says Charlie the tiger was just a little “overexcited” when he attacked.
Picture: Crikey magazine
“The day that Charlie bit me, he became a little overexcited
during his toy session and played a little too rough,” Mr Styles wrote. “Charlie wasn’t intending to injure me and as
soon as we had left the enclosure, he was calm and interacting with
other handlers.”
Mr Styles has recovered well and says he still works with Charlie and the other tigers. He says they respond to him and interact with him the same way as before. “I’d like to acknowledge all of the support and well wishes I received globally while I was in recovery,’” he wrote in Crikey. “This went a long way to keep me motivated and assisted in my speedy recovery. “Although
this situation was an unfortunate incident, my hope is that it doesn’t
distract from how these tigers are ambassadors to raise awareness
towards conserving their wild cousins.”
Mr Styles signed off his letter with: “Peace, love and tigers.”
A spokeswoman for Australia Zoo said the handler was healthy and happy to be back working but did not want to comment further.
By Eve Edelheit, Times Staff Photographer
Thursday, May 29, 2014
TAMPA — Three tigers named Keisha, Kimba
and Zeus arrived at Big Cat Rescue on Wednesday evening after a 22-hour
trip from New York to Tampa.
The tigers — 14, 19 and 17 years old, respectively — were rescued
from JNK's Call of the Wild Sanctuary in Sinclairville, N.Y. A fourth
died before it could be rescued.
The trip was arranged by Florida-based Loving Friends Transport. Big
Cat Rescue is the world's largest accredited sanctuary dedicated
entirely to abused and abandoned exotic cats.
San Diego Zoo Safari Park opens a new 5.2-acre, $19.5-million home for its Sumatran tigers
Zookeepers hope a new tiger enclosure at Safari Park generates support for conservation efforts
Lori
Gallo is feeding chunks of beef heart to Conrad, who is 2 years old and
possessed of a piercing stare and incisors that could — make that,
would — rip you apart if given a chance. "Conrad is a real tiger,
from Day One," said Gallo, a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari
Park. "He has a very intimidating, intense personality — unlike his
brother ,who is more calm and collected."
The park has had Sumatran tigers since the late 1970s.
Over the Memorial Day weekend all that changed with the
opening of new digs for the park's six Sumatrans. The 5.2-acre Tull
Family Tiger Trail cost $19.5 million and was 14 months in the making.
Visitors can now get within inches of the tigers — thanks to tempered glass and other safety features.
Children can play tug-a-war with a tiger, with the animal grasping a
rope in its teeth and the child, safe behind the glass, grabbing the
rope by hand. A children's play area has a log step, rope climbs and a
slide, part of a simulated logging camp (rampant logging is destroying
the tigers' habitat in their homeland).
The modern visitor to zoos
and animal parks demands a close-up view of the animals. Numerous
projects — like the new Rainforest of the Americas at the Los Angeles
Zoo — are determined to provide that immediacy.
Safari Park
keepers hope the new Tiger Trail will lead to greater public support for
conservation projects aimed at forestalling the decline of the Sumatran
tiger, considered the most endangered of six subspecies of tigers.
An
estimated 400 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild, with the number
decreasing each year because of poaching and deforestation on the
Indonesian island of Sumatra. There are about 350 Sumatran tigers in 55
zoos and parks (the Los Angeles Zoo has a female Sumatran).
The
trend line in the wild is ominous: By century's end, the Sumatran tiger
may be extinct in the wild. The forest is being cleared to produce palm
oil, used in cosmetics and candy.
A Sumatra tiger sits in the shade at the new Tull Family Tiger Trail.
Plumber Salah Salem, working on the new Tull Family Tiger Trail exhibit, pauses to admire a Sumatran tiger.
To rally public support for captive breeding and other
conservation projects, the public needs to know of the Sumatrans'
plight, said Randy Rieches, curator of mammals at the Safari Park. "If
you want to develop conservation projects, you need to get where
guests, members of the public, can see the animals," he said. "It's
absolutely necessary."
Thomas Tull, chairman and chief executive
of Legendary Pictures, whose latest movie is "Godzilla," contributed $9
million toward the project. Tull is on the foundation board of the
Zoological Society of San Diego. "We simply cannot let these magnificent animals move toward the brink of extinction," Tull said in a statement.The
zoo is involved in two conservation projects in Sumatra to aid the
tiger: at Way Kambas National Park and Gunung Leuser National Park.
A Sumatran tiger peers though a rope pull display where visitors can play tug-of-war with a big cat.
Safari
Park keepers always have bars between them and the big cats,
particularly at feeding time. Six days a week the Sumatrans are fed
meat. One day a week, they fast for the sake of their health. "We
don't want fat tigers," Rieches said. "People think a fat cat is a
healthy cat. But with extra weight comes health problems."
The
Sumatran tiger is the smallest of the tiger subspecies. But, at more
than 6 feet in length and 250 pounds, Conrad remains an imposing
presence when he stretches up, balances on his rear legs and puts his
front legs on the glass.
When a visitor is near the exhibit,
Conrad and the others stare directly. Their throaty roar is ferocious. "You're prey," Rieches said.
Janice Haley, 57, keeps two pet Bengal tigers, Janda and Saber, in the back garden of her home in Orlando, Florida
Janda is a female orange Bengal, weighing 400 pounds, while Saber is a white Bengal male weighing 600 pounds
Each day Mrs Haley hand feeds the tigers their meat and says Saber can't get off to sleep without suckling her finger
By
Jennifer Newton
Published: 25 May 2014
|
While
most people tend to use their garden as a place of relaxation, Janice
Haley chooses to use her backyard as a place to keep her two pet tigers.
Saber,
a 600 pound male white Bengal tiger and Janda, a 400 pound orange
Bengal female live in a cage at the back of Mrs Haley's unassuming
suburban home in Orlando, Florida. Each
day, the 57-year-old hand feeds the tigers as well as stroking and
feeding them and says Saber, the younger tiger, can't get off to sleep
without suckling on her finger.
Mrs
Haley quit her job as an admin assistant to spend more time working
outdoors around 20 years ago and then took a tiger training course,
which she spotted in her local newspaper. Two years later she arrived home with Chuffer the tiger cub and was immediately bitten by the tiger bug. In
2002 she bought Janda, who is now 12, to live with Chuffer. After
Chuffer's death in 2007 she then introduced Saber, who was only two
weeks old at the time.
Scroll down for video
Janice Haley, pictured lying down with her pet tiger, Janda at her home in Orlando, Florida
Janda the tiger, pictured, is now 12 and went to live with Mrs Haley in 2002. She weighs over 400 pounds
The two tigers are hand fed chunks of meat by their owner Mrs Haley, who cares for them in her back garden
Mrs Haley, keeps two tigers in a cage in her back garden. Here she gives Saber, a white Bengal tiger a kiss
Cara Yeatts leans back and relaxes with Saber in his enclosure at his owner's home
Mrs Haley treats the two tigers like ordinary pets by stroking and cuddling them
Janda, left, was put out of place when Mrs Haley introduced Saber, right, to the enclosure but they now get on most of the time
The tigers even get on with other pets such as puppy Buddy, who is pictured bonding with Janda
Mrs Haley pictured with her husband David, left,
spend all their free time caring for their pets. Right, Mrs Haley, is
seen with Saber in 2007 when she first took him in after the death of
her other tiger, Chuffer
Mr and Mrs Haley's unassuming suburban home in Orlando, Florida, where the tigers live source
When Todd Bieber was a young boy, all he wanted for his birthday was a tiger.
Now,
years later, that wish finally came true. The filmmaker recently
uploaded a video to YouTube telling the story of his mother, who
fulfilled his childhood dream by helping him sponsor a Tiger named Simon
from T&D's Cats of the World. in central Pennsylvania.
T&D's
Cats of the World is actually an exotic wildlife rescue organization,
not limited to just big cats. In this case, though, they rescued Simon
and a few other tigers who were used as "photo babies" until they were
too big and deemed dangerous. After T&D's took them in, Bieber's mom
made a list of things the animals needed, sponsored Simon in her son's
name and let him go deliver the items in person.
Bieber's gift is
no small responsibility: the tigers will eat 20 to 30 pounds of meat
every day and live for 12 to 20 years. Although he doesn't "own" Simon,
he does have an opportunity to be a part of his health.
To see the whole story unfold and the other incredible animals housed at T&D's, check out the video above.
CHITWAN, MAY 22 -
The Chitwan National Park
(CNP) has started research on tiger activities including reproduction
from a special way. The park started research with the support from
different donor agencies.
Assistant Conservation Officer at the Park, Tikaram Poudel, said that
the park has started research on tiger activities in the park through
camera trapping method till four years. As many as 15 cameras have been
used to capture the activities of tigers .
The research has been limited to Khoriya Source to Dumariya and Bankatta to Bote Simara of the Park.
Poudel said that different activities of tigers
including regular activities, behavior, breeding condition, health
condition and relation to other animals, would be enquired from camera
trapping for four times once a year till four years.
The park said that the research will be completed after four years after collecting the pictures trapped through cameras.
This is the first time, the country has started such type of special research. As per the recent census, there are 120 tigers in the park. RSS
Who needs health when you've got nine lives?
The
world's oldest living cat has a taste for KFC and kebabs. Poppy, now
blind and deaf and feisty as ever, is pretty much the coolest cat to
grace the Internet since yesterday. Guinness World Records crowned her
the oldest living cat at the young age of 24 -- or 114 in human years,
according to SWNS.
She was born in February, 1990. Her family
isn't sure exactly how she was able to hold on for so long, but one of
her secrets is eating KFC chicken, kebabs, fish and chips and canned cat
food, NBC News reports.
Just look at that birthday cake!
"Poppy
is definitely the top cat and she is still quite feisty," said Jacqui
West, Poppy's owner, at her home in Bournemouth, England. "If one of the
other cats tries to eat her food she will bite them on the ear."
Poppy has a long way to go if she wants to be dubbed the OLDEST CAT OF ALL TIME,
however. Creme Puff, who lived in Austin, Texas, made it to 38 years
and 3 days, and died in 2005. The average cat lives about 15 years, NBC
News reports.
A
change in longstanding cultural practice in Tanzania is saving some
endangered lions from being killed by hunters. For hundreds of years
young men from some ethnic groups in Tanzania, called "lion dancers"
because they elaborately acted out their lion killing for spectators,
were richly rewarded for killing lions that preyed on livestock and
people. Now when a lion dancer shows up he might be called a rude name
rather than receive a reward.
A Tanzanian lion dancer does the lion dance, which captures the adventures of the lion killer.
Credit: Adi Swami
For
hundreds of years young men from some ethnic groups in Tanzania, called
"lion dancers" because they elaborately acted out their lion killing
for spectators, were richly rewarded for killing lions that preyed on
livestock and people. Now when a lion dancer shows up he might be called
a rude name rather than receive a reward, according to a new UC Davis
study.
Some
villagers are snubbing the lion killers, calling them "fakers" and
contemplating punishing them and those who continue to reward them, said
Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, anthropology professor at UC Davis. That's
because the lion hunters are killing lions that are not a threat to
people or livestock and live in a national park.
This
surprisingly rapid change in a long-standing cultural practice has
positive implications for efforts to save lions, said Borgerhoff Mulder,
lead author of "From avengers to hunters: Leveraging collective action
for the conservation of endangered lions." The paper was published in
the May edition of the journal Biological Conservation.
Traditionally,
after killing a predatory lion using only a spear and shield, the
hunter would travel from village to village, perform the dance and be
showered with gifts including livestock and even a night with young
women in the village. "This change in behavior offers an
intriguing solution to the problem of illegal hunting insofar as the
community is policing itself," Borgerhoff Mulder said. "It is a real
opportunity to work with a community that is changing its customs in a
way compatible with a conservation goal."
A change coming from within the community will also be more long-lasting than rules and regulations from the outside, she said.
The
study interviewed 198 households with 73 reporting being visited 128
times by dancers between 2001 and 2010. The households rewarded 96
dancers (75 percent) and did not reward 33 (25 percent). Although most
households are still rewarding the dancers, 96 percent stated that the
nature of lion killing had changed, and 72 percent said that the young
men were killing lions just to acquire wealth. "The hunters are
going deep into the national park, the border of which is 8 to 10 miles
away," Borgerhoff Mulder said. "People are saying they are cheats and
are not going to give them gifts any longer. The community has found a
reason for policing itself. This is a rare instance of wildlife
conservation and community actions working in tandem."
E. Fitzherbert, T. Caro, P.J. Johnson, D.W. Macdonald, M. Borgerhoff Mulder. From avengers to hunters: Leveraging collective action for the conservation of endangered lions. Biological Conservation, 2014; 174: 84 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2014.03.012
Who's the daddy of a 38-pound hybrid bobcat that was wandering
around in early April? The answer to that question may never be known,
but for now, this big kitty gets to go home to his owner.
VPC
Kathleen Hopkins, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
May 18, 2014
STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J.— Who's the daddy of a 38-pound kitty that was wandering around this area in early April? The answer to that question may never be known. For
that reason Rocky, a cat who's supposed to be a cross between a bobcat
and a Maine coon but was suspected of being a purebred bobcat, can go
home. That was Municipal Court Judge Damian G. Murray's surprise
ruling Friday as Rocky's owner, Ginny Fine, waited to hear results of a
DNA test on her 3-year-old feline.
If
the DNA test had revealed that Rocky was pure bobcat — males can weigh
as much as 40 pounds while male Maine coon cats can tip the scales at
more like 25 pounds — Fine would not have been allowed to have him back.
New Jersey bans residents from owning "potentially dangerous
species" as pets, which includes nondomestic cats, and she would have
had to qualify for a special permit generally not issued to
nonprofessionals.
But a bobcat hybrid is just considered a big kitty under state law. Elsie (one of her domestic cats) has been walking around the house, looking in all the rooms for him. ~~Ginny Fine, Stafford Township, N.J.
Murray
revealed the results of a mitochondrial DNA analysis performed on
Rocky's blood at the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory at East
Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania."The mother was determined
to be a bobcat," Murray said, noting that the DNA test revealed Rocky's
mother was 98% lynx rufus, or bobcat. Mitochnodrial DNA is inherited exclusively from the mother, so the DNA test revealed nothing about Rocky's father.
The
test could not determine who Rocky's father was, and the Montana
breeder from whom Fine obtained Rocky was not required to keep records
of the animal's lineage, Murray said. "The bottom line is Rocky goes home," the judge said. The ruling caught Fine off guard. But she's ecstatic despite having just pleaded guilty to letting the animal get loose and being fined $1,000. "I'm shocked," Fine said later. "I was not expecting that."
She said her house cats, Elsie and Checkers, will be happy to see Rocky, who has been declawed.
"They miss him terribly," Fine said. "Elsie has been walking around the house, looking in all the rooms for him."
Fine
hopes to pick up Rocky on Monday from the Associated Humane Societies'
Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey, N.J., where the big cat has been kept since
April 7. Officials there already had determined that Rocky has a
domestic temperament, something Fine had told the judge.
Animal
control officers brought Rocky to Popcorn Park Zoo a day after Fine had
lured him back home. He had gotten loose March 25. Murray
ordered that Rocky be kept in an enclosure that officials from New
Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife will inspect periodically. "It is something I don't have a problem doing if I can have the cat back," Fine told the judge.
Outside
the courtroom, she said the enclosure already has been constructed with
money donated by people who want to see Rocky return home. Animal Control Officer Kelly Karch said it will be inspected Monday In
imposing the $1,000 fine, Murray said the hunt for Rocky incurred labor
expenses for police officers, who were "all over this town, hunting
through the woods" for Rocky. It was the second time Rocky had run away.
Fine
also had to pay $216 in restitution to Stafford Veterinary Hospital for
tranquilizer medication used during an attempt to capture Rocky the
second time. But Rocky is still not out of the woods: Murray said he could be subject to seizure in the future if his father can be determined to be a bobcat.
Name:
Nika. Sex: female. Age: 9. Weight: 260 pounds. Nika was born at
Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn., then five years ago
moved to Potter Park Zoo in Lansing. There she gave birth to three
female cubs - Kira, Savelii and Ameliya. Ameliya remains at Potter Park
with her father, Sivaki. The other two cubs recently moved to Bramble
Park Zoo in Watertown, S.D. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn R. Schulte,
www.flickr.com/photos/carolynrschultephotography)
Name: Yuri. Sex: Male. Age: 3. Weight: 450-plus pounds. Yuri, which
means "George" in Russian, is named after Curious George because he's
inquisitive. He's the one with the horseshoe-shaped marking above his
right eye. (Photo courtesy of Catherine N. Stolz)
Name: Kuza. Sex: Male. Age: 3. Weight: 450-plus pounds. Kuza is Yuri's
brother and also comes from to Grand Rapids from Rosamond Gifford Zoo in
Syracuse, N.Y. Unlike Yuri, Kuza is cautious and timid. When the tigers
got a cardboard box with meat treats for their first birthday, Yuri
ripped into it while Kuza shied away. (Photo courtesy of Catherine N.
Stolz)
Part of John Ball Zoo's new Crawford Tigers of the Realm exhibit is
scheduled to open June 14, 2014. A trail and lower habitat area is
slated to open in 2015.
Krapinka was the last tiger on exhibit at John Ball Zoo. The female Amur
tiger in 2009 was moved to Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, N. D. In this
2007 photo, she strolls through the zoo's old tiger exhibit as
preschoolers from Legacy Christian School in Culterville watch.
(MLive.com file)
Urod was 17 years old when he died at John Ball Zoo in 2006, leaving one
female tiger who was moved out of the zoo three years later.
Nicole, an Amur tiger born at John Ball Zoo in 1998, died in March at the Oregon Zoo. (Photo by Michael Durham/Oregon Zoo)
Yuri, left, and Kuza toy with a snowman. The two 3-year-old male Amur
tigers have moved to John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids and will be part of a
new Crawford Tigers of the Realm exhibit set to open in June. (Photo
courtesy of Catherine N. Stolz)
By
Matt Vande Bunte
on May 16, 2014
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Three tigers now are living at John Ball Zoo.
Tigers will return to John Ball ZooBarb Snyder talks about the upcoming return of tigers to the John Ball Zoo.
Nika, a female, and two males, brothers Kuza and Yuri, moved this week
to the Kent County zoo at 1300 W. Fulton St. They will be quarantined
for a couple weeks before the zoo’s new Crawford Tigers of the Realm
exhibit opens next month, spokeswoman Krys Bylund said.
The exhibit in the zoo’s Idema Forest Realm is scheduled to open to the public Saturday, June 14.
Nika, a 9-year-old, came from Potter Park Zoo in Lansing. She is unrelated to the two male tigers now at John Ball Zoo.
Kuza and Yuri are 3-year-old brothers who came from Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, N.Y. Each weighs about 450 pounds.
The new arrivals are Amur tigers, which are native to Siberia and
have a life expectancy of 14 years for females and 16 years for males.
Barb Snyder talks about the upcoming return of tigers to the John Ball Zoo.
Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul), also called the manul
Mom's got a mouthful of cub
