It was never the tiger's fault.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not being insensitive and heartless. I am not against the youth's family. I am just against the tiger being put down.
A couple of weeks back, at the top right corner of my daily newspaper, I see this photo of a youth that's in spitting distance of quite a majestic white tiger. The caption read, "youth mauled to death by a white tiger after falling into the enclosure." The whole day, I kept thinking of that boy, and I could only imagine the trauma his family went through. Later the news said that the tiger might be put down. And here are a few reasons why they shouldn't.
Firstly, it might be my lack of knowledge, but I don't get how anyone could accidentally fall into the enclosure, either the zoo was really that horribly maintained or it wasn't quite by "accident". And plus, the tiger did not jump out of it's enclosure and grab a poor passerby. The boy was in the tiger's turf.
Secondly, there are reports which say that the tiger upon encountering the boy, did nothing but look at him for 10 minutes straight. The paralyzing terror that must have taken over his senses must be horrifying, I mean, you don't expect an actual Richard Parker to be staring right into your eyes. But those 10-15 minutes is enough time for the zoo to tranquilize the tiger and safely haul the youth out and not let the tiger maul the youth out. The zoo then says that they weren't prepared for it and that only authorized personnel can use the dart gun. What I don't get is, do they not know that they are working at a zoo? A place where wild animals are caged and ill-treated for the amusement of humans, are they not supposed to be ready for these kind of incidents?! They can't just say that they weren't "prepared"! So not only do they have no infrastructure, they also have no presence of mind or sense.
But what I don't get is, what possible justification is there for the tiger to be put down? It has the right to be provoked, when onlookers start throwing stones at it. When the animal sensed a threat, it took what he was rightfully his and ran into the safety of his enclosure. It's not like the tiger knows what is to be eaten and what isn't. He was born with animal instincts and will die with animal instincts. One cannot expect a tiger to think like a human. Funny part is, what would be the case if all the deer started protesting because tigers are their fellow species? What gives man the right to think he's superior?
Finally, I must applaud the audience who dutifully recorded this horrific incident on their smartphones to forward to all the numbers they can think of, who in turn will forward to their contacts. But I request all of you who have recieved the video to refrain from forwarding it further and preferably deleting it from your phone. The boy's family needs your empathy not your sympathy. Understand the trauma and hardship the family is going through, on top of which their son's death is a forward on WhatsApp. It's not going to be easy on them. I request you all to take that video down, and say a prayer for that family to enable them to be strong through this bad time and to keep them under His care.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not being insensitive and heartless. I am not against the youth's family. I am just against the tiger being put down.
A couple of weeks back, at the top right corner of my daily newspaper, I see this photo of a youth that's in spitting distance of quite a majestic white tiger. The caption read, "youth mauled to death by a white tiger after falling into the enclosure." The whole day, I kept thinking of that boy, and I could only imagine the trauma his family went through. Later the news said that the tiger might be put down. And here are a few reasons why they shouldn't.
Firstly, it might be my lack of knowledge, but I don't get how anyone could accidentally fall into the enclosure, either the zoo was really that horribly maintained or it wasn't quite by "accident". And plus, the tiger did not jump out of it's enclosure and grab a poor passerby. The boy was in the tiger's turf.
Secondly, there are reports which say that the tiger upon encountering the boy, did nothing but look at him for 10 minutes straight. The paralyzing terror that must have taken over his senses must be horrifying, I mean, you don't expect an actual Richard Parker to be staring right into your eyes. But those 10-15 minutes is enough time for the zoo to tranquilize the tiger and safely haul the youth out and not let the tiger maul the youth out. The zoo then says that they weren't prepared for it and that only authorized personnel can use the dart gun. What I don't get is, do they not know that they are working at a zoo? A place where wild animals are caged and ill-treated for the amusement of humans, are they not supposed to be ready for these kind of incidents?! They can't just say that they weren't "prepared"! So not only do they have no infrastructure, they also have no presence of mind or sense.
But what I don't get is, what possible justification is there for the tiger to be put down? It has the right to be provoked, when onlookers start throwing stones at it. When the animal sensed a threat, it took what he was rightfully his and ran into the safety of his enclosure. It's not like the tiger knows what is to be eaten and what isn't. He was born with animal instincts and will die with animal instincts. One cannot expect a tiger to think like a human. Funny part is, what would be the case if all the deer started protesting because tigers are their fellow species? What gives man the right to think he's superior?
Finally, I must applaud the audience who dutifully recorded this horrific incident on their smartphones to forward to all the numbers they can think of, who in turn will forward to their contacts. But I request all of you who have recieved the video to refrain from forwarding it further and preferably deleting it from your phone. The boy's family needs your empathy not your sympathy. Understand the trauma and hardship the family is going through, on top of which their son's death is a forward on WhatsApp. It's not going to be easy on them. I request you all to take that video down, and say a prayer for that family to enable them to be strong through this bad time and to keep them under His care.
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| Sorry if this picture disturbs you. |
