# South Lakes Tiger Attack



## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

Just been reading this on the Express website.
Sumatran tiger was starving hungry as it dragged screaming zookeeper to her death | UK | News | Daily Express

Why was the tiger in a fast? Is this normal in zoos?


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## Basin79 (Apr 1, 2014)

Rach1 said:


> Just been reading this on the Express website.
> Sumatran tiger was starving hungry as it dragged screaming zookeeper to her death | UK | News | Daily Express
> 
> Why was the tiger in a fast? Is this normal in zoos?


I'd probably say it's the normal done thing to try and at least simulate a wild tiger's eating habits. Just sounds like a massive health and safety fail.


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## mikeyb (May 8, 2011)

ouch thats last time they make a tiger go hungry


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## GT2540 (Jan 31, 2012)

Rach1 said:


> Just been reading this on the Express website.
> Sumatran tiger was starving hungry as it dragged screaming zookeeper to her death | UK | News | Daily Express
> 
> Why was the tiger in a fast? Is this normal in zoos?


3 days does not sound that long to me. I can't remember what the feeding/fasting schedule was with the tigers.


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## GECKO MICK (Jun 6, 2012)

This is just terrible:gasp:​


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## animalsbeebee (May 19, 2008)

What would be the point in making a captive animal fast,they are not in the wild or anywhere remotely like their natural habitat ,so think its a bit pointless.Just make them bad tempered and harder to deal with.I bet they dont throw in live food to make it more natural.
Also with the larger zoo animals would have thought for safety should always be 2 keepers to double check correct procedure.


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## BMo1979 (Feb 13, 2012)

I, too would have thought there would be 2 keepers when dealing with large predators. Human error again and I hope the cat doesn't have to pay the price. The poor girl though. What a horrible way to die!
As for the fasting: I don't know anything about their husbandry, but I'm sure it wasn't done to harm the animal and they knew what they were doing.

BUT, this is the DailyDianaWeatherArmageddon, so huge pinch of salt has been taken. 
Their other animal related article wound me up, too, if only for the headline:
Killer Great White Shark 'spotted' in Cornwall | Nature | News | Daily Express
*Enormous shark 'spotted' in British waters could be more DEADLY than the Great White*

(including random caps locks)


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## Rach1 (May 18, 2010)

I know from other threads on here this is NOT the first time something ridiculous has happened there.
I was wondering more about the fasting element.
I was thinking along the same lines as beebees reply in that why would you fast a captive bred animal?


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## GT2540 (Jan 31, 2012)

Rach1 said:


> I know from other threads on here this is NOT the first time something ridiculous has happened there.
> I was wondering more about the fasting element.
> I was thinking along the same lines as beebees reply in that why would you fast a captive bred animal?


Most carnivores have evolved to feast/fast and this is generally how their digestive system works best. 
Also if they are accustomed to eating each day they will probably only consume the items which they favour, i.e. leaving less savoury morsels. Although necessary for their diet.
In captivity they are less active and the calories that are consumed have to be reduced. The weeks calories needed divided by 7 will not lead to any sizeable meals.

This is very much from a layman's point of view. I never looked after the big cats, I just use to speak to the keepers at lunch and coffee as they would often sit on the roof of the reptile house on warmer days


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## animalsbeebee (May 19, 2008)

just read on zoochat that mr gill said it was a 1 day fasting,which i know lots of zoos do and we do that for the lynx,but tend not to in the smaller cats we keep.I thought 3 days was rather long.


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

If the picture in the article is of the actual tiger, it looks half starved to me. From what ive read and heard about this place its horrible and the animals are more abused than looked after.


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

Fasting big cats for at least one day per week is standard zoo practice. It replicates feeding habits in the wild, and stops the largely inactive captive animals from getting too fat.

That being said, it's no secret that there's no love lost between Gill and myself. He consistently puts his staff in dangerous situations, has clearly not paid attention to the maintenance of safety procedures, has a good old bitch at the world and his wife on Facebook (he's NEVER in the wrong, and has an army of clueless admirers to feed his ego), and worst of all had the nerve to blame Sarah herself only hours after the event for negligence!!! (AND AND AND business open as usual the very day after the tragic event....SICK!)

Added to the recent controversy of yet more escaped animals AND his extremely public battle against very reasonable health and safety measures being placed upon him, I hope they throw the bloody book at him!


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## mrcriss (Nov 2, 2010)

And just to shit on Sarah's memory a bit more, here's Gill's Facebook statement:


Today was the final day of the Inquest regarding the death of Sarah McClay back on 24th May 2013. The Jury gave a narrative conclusion where no blame is attached to any party. It was a very difficult week for everyone re living the events.
David Gill the Zoo's founder and owner made a statement to the media after the inquest :
"Sarah McClay was a dedicated and valued member of the animal caring staff at the park. Her enthusiasm and friendly character were appreciated by everyone she met. Sarah was committed to the aims of the park, to conservation and to preservation of rare species as seen for example in the Red Squirrel project she helped to develop and run. Her tragic and untimely death has affected all of us at the park and she is greatly missed. On behalf of myself and everyone at the park I wish to convey our condolences to Mr Shaw, Fiona McClay and all of Sarah's family and friends."

Rich coming from a man that following the event immediately implied it might be suicide or negligence on the poor victim's part!:blowup:


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