Not sure how many of you have gone to Vegas, but one of the biggest shows there is Siegfried and Roy at the Mirage. Last night, during a live 7:30pm performance, Roy introduced a new 6 year old tiger who had never gone on stage before.

Shortly after the introduction, the tiger lunged at Roy biting him on the arm. Roy responded by beating the tiger on the head with a microphone. In the ensuing scuffle, the tiger grabbed Roy by the neck and hauled him off-stage. While many audience members thought this was part of the act, Roy was airlifted to a nearby hospital where surgeons spent up to 4 hours repairing the damage.

Needless to say, all future shows are cancelled and Roy remains in critical condition due to the massive blood loss and neck wounds. At 59 years old, hopefully he will be smart enough to retire if he survives the attack.

Newark

Oh dear

Silly me. I thought tigers belonged in the wild. I suppose the poor creature is going to be put down because a wild & unpredictable animal behaved well eh wild & unpredictably.

Of course I wish the injured man a speedy & full recovery but I'm sorry, the whole scenario irks me. Maybe it wasn't the tigers fault, more the people who put this poor beautiful animal into such a scenario to belittle it for the silly amusement of people who haven't got better to do with their time & money & to put plenty of money into greedy, selfish, exploitive peoples pockets. :mad:

Coconuts,
Never a truer word spoken. Poor Tiger... I say. I hope he takes out a few more before they destroy him. Which is what these Yanks will do. It sickens me the fascination Americans have with animals, especially unusual pets. They unknowingly are raping the Jungle and Habitats of the world. Classic example is Sea animals from Coral Reefs and how the end up in the US. And what it does to the Reefs in the Carribean and SE . Asia.

Buggas

Sheep

Silly tw@<hidden>,deserved what he got!
Tigers are wild animals not circus performers,that should be left to clowns and other idiots.

I just hope that the tiger survives the day and taken somewhere where he can be left alone in peace(preferably in the wild) and not part of some Yank freak show!:yuk:

It's about time this kind of thing is banned.

Who's a silly cnut then?

Poor bloody animal. Such a majestic beast should be away in the wilds doing its own thing, not parading like some sort of poodle for the likes of people who like to watch poodles parade.

What a shame it didn't kill him. Then perhaps we might have had some movement on the issue of mindless animal expolitation. I reckon the stupid b@<hidden> deserved eveything he got; it's a pity the same wasn't metered out to his backers and promoters, and to every sick individual who supported it by being in the audience.

" Many audience members thought this was part of the act....":}

hehehe

Nice one tiger ! :ok:

That'll teach em to lock you up and tease you.

"Look ! Are'nt I brave ! Is'nt this tiger dumb ! Is'nt it tame ! Man rules, OK !"

*CHOMP*

Animal magic !!!

Twould be a interesting exercise for that Blaine loon,stick a hungry Bengal Tiger in that glass box with him, that would rekindle public interest.
:E

Is he still up there?

"He who sticks his nose into a beehive will get more than a nostril full of honey"

Derek 'Delboy' Trotter, 1989.

While I don't agree with making Tigers perform like trained poodles, I think the comments about letting them remain 'free' in the 'wild' is naiive. There is no 'wild' any more for the Tiger. Its natural habitat has been all but destroyed. Sadly the only future for most of the worlds larger wildlife species is in zoo's. Especially those which present any kind of 'threat' to man.

Unpopular statement perhaps, but I'd have probably been of the opposite view until I read 'The Life of Pi' just a few weeks ago.
Great book in every way, and certainly an eye opener on the subject of wildlife preservation and zoo's.

Wasn't there a Simpsons sketch along similar lines? I know Siegfried and Roy get lampooned regularly by Matt Groening.:D

Go Tiger.
And Also.
The "Life of Pi" also gave me my first real rethink about Zoos in a long time. Can thoroughly recommend this book. Bit hard to get into, but stick with it.

On a related note, Auntie Beeb carried another story today at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3166010.stm involving a 350 lb tiger being kept in a flat in Harlem (together with a 3ft gator). Suspicions were first raised when the owner (a contender for the 2003 Darwin award) checked into a hospital claiming that he'd been bitten by his dog, but the real giveaway was his weekly trip to the local pet shop to buy 200 lbs of kitty litter.

Anyway, the story goes on to say that there are now 10,000 Tigers kept as pets in the USA, more than are left in the wild. Good to see the locals taking the 'save the tiger' campaign so seriously...

:}

There was an episode of the comedy "Just Shoot Me" that was eerily like this.

Nina has a boyfriend that everyone (including Nina) thinks is Gay. He is a magician who works with Tigers. He gets all indignant when he finds out everyone thinks hes gay to which he responds with the great line "I'm not gay, I'm British!" and then sleeps with Nina causing him to get distracted, lose focus and get attacked by his tigers....

Cheers,
Wino

"Course if the tiger was sent back to the wilds, there would be a very good chance his gall bladder would wind up in Taiwan, his pecker in Beijing and his knackers in Tokyo. All to restore the libido of some ageing Oriental lothario. :uhoh:

No wonder he lives an alternative lifestyle. Especially when your pussy turns on you!!!:eek:

Rumor has it that an old woman turned up to where the Tiger was being held in quarantine with a large can of cat food and asked that it be opened and given to the Tiger, an attendant suggested that it may be inappropriate to reward the Tiger who had just gnawed on Roy, she replied that she just wanted to a give it to the cat so that he could get the taste of Roy out of his mouth.

Rumor also has it that Siegfried is suing the Tiger as he claims that he is the only one allowed to "eat" Roy

Actually, S&R have helped increase the numbers of white tigers through their tiger breeding program.

Ozzy

White Tigers are normal tigers with a genetic mutation. Captive breeding programmes will naturally increase the chances of a white tiger with the limited gene pool. White tigers are exceedingly rare in the wild. Therefore 'S&R have helped increase the numbers of white tigers through their tiger breeding program' is a bit hollow.

DeepC