Tigers in B.C.
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Residents of B.C. are not allowed to keep local wildlife as pets; you cannot keep a raccoon in a doghouse, or a crow in a cage, without a permit.
So how come anyone can keep an exotic animal in their home?
An exotic animal is still a wild animal; it is just wild in a different country, hence its exotic appeal.
But perhaps it is that removal from seeing tigers roaming through our backyards that has caused us to forget that they are still dangerous.
When Gangus, a 2 year-old Bengal tiger, swatted at Tania Dumstery-Soos and killed her last week, it was only doing what came naturally.
Tigers are killing machines, they are born to hunt, and should be respected as such.
Dogs are an excellent example of human triumph over nature. We have taken wild wolves and bred them for thousands of years to make them our lap dog companions. But even that doesn’t stop them from resorting back to their wild roots.
History has shown us that even the animals that we have bred domestically may still not be man’s best friends.
In August 2005, vicious attacks from pit bulls prompted a province-wide ban from the province of Ontario, and the breed has been banned from Winnipeg for over a decade. The owners can be blamed on many accounts, but not all.
So if animals that we have taken centuries to tame will still act out and attack people, isn’t it naïve to think that creatures that are very much wild will do any different?
There are those that argue that keeping a tiger is a valiant way to save the species, as there are more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild. But that does not means it is right to keep a 200-pound cat in your backyard.
Tigers in the wild command a territory of anywhere from 8 to 200 sq km, depending on the abundance of prey. They are also solitary creatures, and can live for up to 20 years. This is a stark contrast to the cramped quarters that the tigers in the cages of 100 Mile House were being kept in. When you confine creatures that are meant to live alone in vast spaces, perhaps keeping them in close quarters with other animals, you are causing them distress, only contributing to the danger. This compounded with a lack of activity and stimulation creates an even deadlier problem, because a restless tiger is a disaster in the making.
In this latest example of exotic ownership, not only did a woman lose her life, but an endangered species lost another misunderstood member that, if tried in a courtroom, would have been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
From big cats taken from India to small squirrels captured in Chile, the exotic animal trade is big business in Canada; and it is a dangerous and morally wrong trade that must at least be regulated, if not halted.
It is usually mere selfishness, and not conservation, that people have in mind when they purchase a tiger or other outrageous pet, which is no real basis for their argument to keep them.
Those that own or sell exotic animals say that many of the creatures are captive-bred, now; but that doesn’t necessarily mean any more docile than their outdoor cousins, and that practice may even promote inbreeding.
William Blake wrote, “A robin redbreast in a cage; Puts all of heaven in a rage.” It is about time that our government thought that way as well, before more lives are lost.
