This afternoon a lion killed a tiger at the Jeonju Zoo in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do. The six-year-old female tiger "Hobi" found its way into the adjacent male lion's habitat during feeding time and was killed by a bite to the throat. HT to East Windup Chronicle, who says that according to another article the two animals usually got along.
Apologies for the picture above. If it's too graphic for you, how about looking at this one from Sports Kahn instead.
I'll be curious what, if anything, the English-language media adds to the story. If you watch the animal shows on TV you'll often see zookeepers allowing different species to get too close to each other, sometimes mixing them to see what they'll do for the camera. Take a look at this picture of the side-by-side exhibits and you'll see just how inappropriately close they were. The lion exhibit is on the left, the tiger exhibit on the right.
Update: One reporter seems amused.
10 comments:
Is there any way we can spin this into a "it happened coz the zoo is shit and feels like something from behind the Iron Curtain"- type argument? I lived in the 'Ju (as we like(d) to call it) for 3 years and was rarely less happy than when at the zoo. Shit, just look at it! The animals wander around in circles, stopping just, just shy of banging their heads like, and this is not meant to be funny, kids in an Eastern European orphanage of the late 1980s. And, to be sure, Seouland is not any great deal better. Yet another thing that isn't keeping up with Korea's pace of development.
So sad!
What kind of a fence was separating them???
I've learned through living in Asia that "animals have no feelings", which is why you can leave them in filthy cages, mix predators and prey for "funny TV shows", and tie a dog on a too-short chain, without water in the middle of summer.
I know, I know, Brian, I am preaching to the choir...
It's more than simple neglect: Animals here seem to suffer on purpose. You can choose to tie up your dog with access to food and water, enough room to turn around comfortably, protection from the elements and a house that is not made out of razor-sharp scrap metal... or not.
I can't tell what kind of fence that is, nor can I get a sense of the layout of the place b/c there's nothing to give perspective. However, both lions and tigers can leap great distances, so it's not unreasonable to think the tiger could've jumped on that umbrella and gone over the fence, or even jumped atop that building (I can't tell how high that door is).
Those animals should never have been neighbors. Their scents alone would drive each other crazy, and any idiot knows better than to stick two of the biggest cats side-by-side.
All without getting into the condition of the habitats themselves.
Actually, the umbrella probably wouldn't support the weight unless it was actually designed to be sat on. But then again, if it were too weak to support an animal, it probably wouldn't be standing and would already have been knocked over. I dunno.
It's a concrete partition, which I did presume to be too high to jump. The umbrellas are sun shades, needless to say; I am not aware of an animal ever trying to actually sit on one, though they are pretty industrial. The tire, which is regular Bongo-size, should give scale. The enclosure boundaries continue on their gentle arc to create a half moon divided in two. It's nothing that a tiger hiding out on Baekdu-san would be jealous of, that is for sure, and not a place that I hope to see in "Top Days Out in Jeonbuk 2009."
A male against a tigress. Juding by the picture the tigres isn't more then 200 lbs. Male lions more then twice her body weight. An the tigress made a poor landing. Of course the male lions gonna over power and killed the little tigress. Same as a male tiger would do to a lioness. Put a male tiger in there the outcome would have been the other way around. That tigress even being female is tiny.
Looks like Jajuan can't read properly! He/she is jumping to conclusions without reading the whole news article. The lion was NOT twice the weight of the tigress but about 20 kg heavier; "The lion and the tiger were similar in length, but the former was heavier by about 20 kilograms, weighing 110kilograms". The zookeeper also said that the outcome of fight between a lion and a tiger depends on which gets a head start and which is more aggressive, adding that neither animal is always superior to the other.
How the hell does Jajuan know the outcome would have been the same had it been a male tiger and a lioness? Jajuan, why would the outcome be different if it was a male tiger and a male lion? Are you living in a fantasy world or what mate? Just accept the fact as it is! It is indeed sad to see the tigress killed but atleast accept the truth and save all your speculations. By the way, if the lion was only 110kg then it was far from fully grown. A wild male lion's average weight is around 200kg mark. In captivity, they easily way around 250kg when fully grown so this lion's weight is under the half way mark.
This is interesting and surprising, because if you ask an expert (ex. from National Geographic) they will tell you that tigers and tigresses will most likely win in a fight against any lion. But this tigress obviousley wasn't paying attention, and the lion got a head start. honestly, jax must not have anything better to do then insult people suck as jajuan. -_-
its a full grown male lion see link
http://eastwindupchronicle.com/patrons-watch-in-horror-as-lion-kills-tiger-at-korean-zoo/
the little tigress with stupid confidence ventured into the others area and the lion killed it, they get possessive when food is around. This is pathetic irresponsibility on part of the handlers.
BTW just for info after a few posts on top, terai tigers are capable of killing rhinos and crocs (not gharial but big alligators) this tigeress seems like a south china sub species which are the size of lions, with sexual dimorphism. So this duel would have been like a fight between a heavy weight and a feather weight..poor thing.
i agree with Chris about this zoo being crap..Zoo inherently is depressing and sad as it is, but to see how they were laid out..this kind of tragedy was bound to happen. let's hope that they learn from this and make some improvements..or at least put someone who understands animal behavior in charge?!
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