Tiger mauls her handler

The dreadful news that a zoo keeper in the UK has died after being mauled by a captive tiger is tragic especially when you consider that the woman loved her animals and obviously cared deeply about them. It's always going to be a risk working with large predatory animals that can be unpredictable but these animals were never meant to live captive. They should be roaming free living as all animals should. So many are captive bred however but I think their wild instincts are still very strong and the fact that they can't follow those instincts can lead to frustration and bursts of explosive animal rage. If you realise that some tigers need a territory that could be hundreds of kilometres how can we honestly expect them to be happy held captive for our entertainment in comparably small spaces being fed what we decide to give them. Just as orcas have demonstrated a psychosis from being held captive that results in aggression towards their human handlers tigers do too. It makes me sad to hear about this poor girl who probably lived for her job with the animals in her care but it's also a wake up call that perhaps we need to rethink the way we keep top predators in captivity.

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