Article and Photography By BECKIE LOEWENSTEIN
Siberian tigers arouse from their siesta in the shade to snatch a chicken or two at their current residence, the North East Tiger Park (东北虎园) in Harbin. Trying to maintain the health of their tigers, the park employees only feed the tigers live animals and meat that have passed multiple health inspections.
The tigers are rapidly losing their native habitats in China due to increasing population growth. These tigers will not be released back to the wild anytime soon. This park is the only breeding center for Siberian tigers in the world. Sightseers can hold one month year old tigers.
Although no park or zoo can ever replace the wild, these tigers have more space than most living in captivity. They roam in the shade of trees and snooze in the tawny grass of fields.
Sightseers take a Safari bus ride through the tigers' pad, and have the option to purchase live chickens, ducks (40 元 each）, and guinea fowl (100 元 each）. A jeep with its windows, doors, and wheels armored in metal grates emerges on the scene. The tigers, classically conditioned to associate the jeep with lunch, arrive on the scene. The jeep driver opens his door a crack, and then launches a hunk of raw beef into the air. The tigers rise on their haunches to swat the beef with their paws. The fastest tiger gingerly picks it up with his mouth, and the others offer a half-hearted pursuit. The victor swallows the meat tidbits out of the dirt road in the shade.
In another instance, the jeep driver launches a guinea fowl into the air. The tigers offer a fast pursuit of this animal, and the "hunt" is over within seconds.
Sightseers can also walk over tiger pens in tunnel walkways. As metal grates, not glass or plastic window panes, separate the humans from the tigers, it offers a convenient way to pass food to the tiger. The park employees offer to release or suspend live birds through the grates into the pens.
The tigers are rapidly losing their native habitats in China due to increasing population growth. These tigers will not be released back to the wild anytime soon. This park is the only breeding center for Siberian tigers in the world. Sightseers can hold one month year old tigers.
Although no park or zoo can ever replace the wild, these tigers have more space than most living in captivity. They roam in the shade of trees and snooze in the tawny grass of fields.
Sightseers take a Safari bus ride through the tigers' pad, and have the option to purchase live chickens, ducks (40 元 each）, and guinea fowl (100 元 each）. A jeep with its windows, doors, and wheels armored in metal grates emerges on the scene. The tigers, classically conditioned to associate the jeep with lunch, arrive on the scene. The jeep driver opens his door a crack, and then launches a hunk of raw beef into the air. The tigers rise on their haunches to swat the beef with their paws. The fastest tiger gingerly picks it up with his mouth, and the others offer a half-hearted pursuit. The victor swallows the meat tidbits out of the dirt road in the shade.
In another instance, the jeep driver launches a guinea fowl into the air. The tigers offer a fast pursuit of this animal, and the "hunt" is over within seconds.
Sightseers can also walk over tiger pens in tunnel walkways. As metal grates, not glass or plastic window panes, separate the humans from the tigers, it offers a convenient way to pass food to the tiger. The park employees offer to release or suspend live birds through the grates into the pens.
The employee attaches an iron wire to the right leg of a live chicken with golden brown plumage. He slowly suspends the bird just above the tigers' heads. The tigers lift their noses to the air, and just as they prepare to jump for their prize, the employee pulls the bird back up higher. The tigers are ready when the bird, legs still bound, falls to the ground.
Feathers poof over the tigers' heads as if they are engaged in a pillow fight. A tiger snatches the bird, and finds a place in the shade to sit with it. The chicken, injured but alive, bleats in between the tiger's paws. The tiger licks the feathers on the head, but does not eat the bird. Another tiger gingerly snatches the bird away, and immediately begins to devour it. Some tigers like free range chicken more than others.
Feathers poof over the tigers' heads as if they are engaged in a pillow fight. A tiger snatches the bird, and finds a place in the shade to sit with it. The chicken, injured but alive, bleats in between the tiger's paws. The tiger licks the feathers on the head, but does not eat the bird. Another tiger gingerly snatches the bird away, and immediately begins to devour it. Some tigers like free range chicken more than others.