Didn't wat to hijack Vaski's thread

[ceeboy14]

but here's a White tiger cub I had the privilege of playing with for a half hour at our local zoo.

 

[Overread40]

*jealous*

Looks like the cub had a lot of fun! Also interesting to see such a (from this angle) pointed nose on the cat, normally I'm more accustomed to seeing tigers with a slightly flatter front to their muzzles, though it could of course be an age or angle of the shot thing.

Out of interest was this a general "come play with the tiger" affair or were you doing a specific project for the zoo?

 

[ceeboy14]

I shot the "come play with the tiger" patrons...who paid large dollars to do so. Each got a "Portrait with the Tiger," 8x10 and ten wallets. I got to play with the tiger for free and made a few bucks in the orocess. When he got to be about 7 weeks, his bite capacity was enough to break skin and the party eneded when he made a serious chomp onto a lady's ankle.

 

[Overread40]

Ahh a shame it had to end so suddenly, but then again such animals are indeed not pets and can so easily harm without even the intent (we are quite fragile). I hope the bite wasn't "too" serious and that there were no lasting issues for the cat or person after the event; but I can certainly see that such an event would draw it to a close for all concerned (and also that the zoo would likely never get any insurance cover if they continued after such an event)

 

[ceeboy14]

She was only bruised. They generally don't go past 8 weeks or 40lbs for the cubs with this kind of people interaction. The bite pressure per sq in on a full grown tiger is upward of 1,000 lbs. An 8-week old cub is upward of 100lbs. I had this one lock on my foot for a couple of seconds at 4 weeks and it was significantly noticeable.