So near and yet so far

[Scooter]

How frustrating to have such a tasty looking morsel in your sights and not be able to get to it:

[Joe Guy]

Those parents are weird.

It is cruel & thoughtless of them to frustrate the lion by not taking the baby away from the glass.

Of course, I would have liked to have seen the lion eat the kid so what do I know about cruel & thoughtlessness.

[BoSoxGal]

Breeders, not parents.


Who subjects their child to such possible terror, intentionally? Sure, the kid seems unfazed - but plenty of kids would have reacted otherwise. And they were encouraging him to turn around and see the lioness trying to eat/maul him. Idiots.


Idiots who want 2 million plus hits on YouTube more than positive experiences for their baby.

[Scooter]

I think an older kid might have been terrified, but I don't believe that one is old enough to have grasped the concept of what a lion is and what it could do to him.

[Gob]

Good training for future contact with wild/dangerous animals.

[Lord Jim]

I think an older kid might have been terrified, but I don't believe that one is old enough to have grasped the concept of what a lion is and what it could do to him.

Yeah, I don't think the kid had any idea what was going on....

I heard a suggestion in a story about this that the stripes on the kid's outfit may have made it look like a baby zebra to the lioness....

[Gob]

The photos taken by a tourist from Scotland show his wife on the ground, hair flying, blood on her neck, with two cheetahs nearby.



The Port Elizabeth Herald reported that Violet D'Mello of Aberdeen was attacked by cheetahs on April 28 while in a petting pen with the animals at the Kragga Kamma game reserve near Port Elizabeth in southeastern South Africa.

It says she was attacked while trying to protect young children from another group that was in the enclosure at the same time


Her husband took photos of the attack, which were published by the local newspaper and others.

One of the photos taken by Archie D'Mello shows his wife Violet smiling and posing with a cheetah raised by humans in the enclosure, before, as she told the Herald, "it became serious very quickly".

One of two cheetahs in the enclosure first grabbed a young girl, leaving her with scratches and cuts that needed stitches, the paper reported.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/strangebutt ... z1u3TXq8lD

Lucky her husband was there to take photos for the internetz!!

[BoSoxGal]

A petting pen with big cats?!?!


Who is THAT stupid?!?!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well BSG, "Cheetah Experience" just outside Bloemfontein and numerous other places. At the Aquila Reserve near Cape Town I learned that a full-grown cheetah's fur is a lot harsher than I expected it to be and when they purr you can feel it all the way to the soles of your feet. Of course when they bite you can feel that pretty well too.

At CE every group is accompanied by several guides who ensure that children do not run, squeal, shout, whistle or otherwise annoy the animals. You are warned (and sign a release) that the cats might approach you and they might get frisky (they are only playing, cheetahs - not hunting) and if they do you must stand very still and allow the guides to move in.



We feed Fifi to a cheetah. She was born (the cheetah) without a tail and therefore could not run and catch food so was abandoned. Rescued and raised by humans. She can be somewhat grumpy and we were not permitted to pet her. Other cheetahs roamed the fenced-in park which we walked through but at this place they also were not to be touched. We did get to pet cheetah cubs but didn't take pictures



Fifie preferred the lions because the juveniles could be petted and so he did. The other four kids were too cautious

I actually enjoyed the servals a lot more - this picture obviously is not at CE but we didn't take any and I chose it to show relative size of these cats. There were three or four and very friendly indeed.




Meade

ETA: spelling error (Freudian slip - "ate" instead of "at" !!)

[BoSoxGal]

The liability for such a place is insane; are there no lawyers?!?

[MajGenl.Meade]

They were all invited to the inaugural galas.....

[Lord Jim]

every group is accompanied by several guides who ensure that children do not run, squeal, shout, whistle

And just how do they go about "ensuring" this? Are they sedated beforehand? Small children, much like wild animals, can be very spontaneous and unpredictable, and frequently do not follow direction...

I can maybe see doing this with small cubs being raised in captivity, but adult wild cats, no matter how "tame" or trained are always capable of attacking without warning for reasons that cannot be anticipated...( Just ask Roy Horn.)

I'm with BSG on this. I think it's crazy.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well there is an age limit typically. I think it was 10 years old. Below that they get fed to the big cats (Leo and Tigger types). We got a dispensation to take two 7 year olds with the other three - we also had four guides with our group of seven. As far as we were concerned, the kids were wonderful - terrified out of their wits and much too afraid to say "boo" to a.... er feline death machine. I jest.... relax.

[dales]

The liability for such a place is insane; are there no lawyers?!?

They were served as the appetizer course.

[BoSoxGal]

But of course.

[Scooter]

And weren't spit up?



(ducks)

[BoSoxGal]

No, they were sauced with accountants to make them palatable.

[Scooter]