This is Ari jumping through the hoop in this picture from Henry Penndorf above, and Ari below on Ringling Bros. Circus. The hoop didn't get smaller, Ari just got bigger. The tiger I am leaning against is his brother Ika. Eventually I wa able to sit on him as Ari jumped, but at this time he wasn't big enough to hold the weight of my fat ass. When Ika was retired to the Colombus Zoo due to an permanant leg injury, I trained the gold tiger Khan to sit on while Ari jumped. 
Friday, September 24, 2010
Ari
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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6 comments:
I read somewhere, I think maybe it was in a newspaper article, that Ika was going to be destroyed, but the Columbus Zoo offered to pay his medical expenses. Sincerely Paul
Paul,
That is not true, as many newspaper account are "questionable." Yes he was going to be euthanize, as his leg was removed, and he would have served no purpose for breeding as his genes were well represented by his father and brother. All medical expense's had occurred through the process of attempting to save the leg. Columbus wanted a "free gift" of a white tiger, so that they could be "like Cincinnati," and their request was granted. That's all. I wish it hadn't happened, but I had no choice in the matter. I loved him to much to look at him as a half an animal, and what he contributed to the genetic gene pool of white tigers was junk, given the poor breeding choice's made for him.
Wade
Wade, I thought I had made a mistake as soon as I sent that. I went home and could'nt find the specific article which made that claim. I think it was in The Washington Post, an article about Rewati's death. If she had not been a National Zoo white tiger I don't think they would have taken an interest in the story. Apparently she and Ika had been getting along famously. Sincerely Paul
Paul,
I would temper anything I read in a knee jerk liberal Washington Post article, with a good doze of fact from someplace else.
Wade
Wade, I question everything I read. Thanks. Sincerely Paul
Wade, I forwarded the article to you from The Washington Post, just for your interest. I agree with you about newspapers in general, not just liberal ones. I did not know that the Washington Post is liberal. Sincerely Paul
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