Tiger Kills Teenager

[Autoload]

My condolences for the family for having to bury a child.  Truly tragic....

....and yet somehow not suprising.  Hello!!!! It's a fecking tiger.  To it, you are food.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/19/national/main787756.shtml

(CBS/AP) A Siberian tiger attacked and killed a teenage girl who was posing for a picture at an animal sanctuary Thursday morning, authorities said.

The Labette County Sheriff's office identified the victim as Haley R. Hilderbrand, 17, of Altamont. Hilderbrand was at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary posing for a photo with the 7-year-old tiger, which was being restrained by its handler, when the animal turned and attacked her.

"She was taking her picture, her senior pictures at the animal sanctuary and the tiger, for whatever reason, lunged at her and that resulted in her death," Labette County school superintendent Dennis Wilson told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. Wilson also noted that the sanctuary photo session was not a school-sanctioned activity.

"Parents on their own have senior pictures taken outside of the school," Wilson said.

Officers and handlers killed the animal. Emergency personnel were not able to revive Hilderbrand, who was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators have sent the tiger's body to Kansas State University for dissection.

"This animal had been around people across the country and there's never been a problem," Sheriff William Blundell said in a telephone interview.

Keith Hilderbrand, Haley's uncle, said the family wasn't making any statements at this time.

"As of yesterday, they were holding up very well," Wilson said on The Early Show. "I think they're still in a state of shock, but they were doing fine."

Doug Billingsly and his family opened the 80-acre sanctuary in 1994. According to the sanctuary's Web site, the sanctuary has lions, leopards, bears, white tigers and even a liger, a rare cross between a lion and a tiger.

The Web site also says the sanctuary has an affiliated Animal Entertainment Productions, which trains animals for stage performances, movies, television shows and magic shows.

Billingsly didn't immediately return a phone call for comment.

[D1-007]

Sad, yet stupid.  Unless I had personally trained one of those big cats there is no way you could get me that close to one, without something between it and me.  Likewise, I don't plan on ever training one of them.

[Fixxxer]

Yes, very sad.

But this makes you wonder when people are going to realize there are just some animals you can't tame. Sure, it's been around humans all across the country without any problems, but it is still a wild animal in captivity. Regardless if it's been in captivity since birth, insticts outweigh it's lifestyle. It's how the animal kingdom survives.

It's our own fault when things like this happen. Our curiosity takes over and we want to have that really memorable picture of us next to one of the most deadly animals alive...it just amazes me when that alone doesn't register as reckless and just plain stupid.

I mourn the loss, but it was in no way the Tiger's fault. And for that matter it wasn't the poor girl's fault either, it was just an unfortunate outcome of how cruel the kingdom works.

R.I.P., both of them.

[Shrapnill]

A shame. Seventeen years old.

The idea behind the picture makes the point perfectly. Why would someone want a picture sitting with a tiger? Because its cool. Its hardcore. Tigers are not domestic creatures, even when we think they are. Its dangerous.

Sad to hear it.

[Jamo]

I feel sorry for the girl and the family...and the tiger for that matter.
I know this sounds bad, but the statement "Officers and handlers killed the animal" provoked more emotion from me than when i saw the headline.

I wonder what the actual cause of death was though?

[Mofoka]

Such a beautiful creature slain and all because they thought it could be handled. It's sad how the girl died in such a vicious way but I could not be upset at mother nature or the girl. I do however think the handlers and the zoo themselves should be punished for thier idiocy.

[sithdemon]

Yeah why exactly the sanctuary had this set up is beyond me, perhaps they needed the extra money? who knows a foolish choice obviously. And the tiger pays the price of being a tiger.

Though I have another question, They have a "liger"? Uhhhhh A) I didn't know animals COULD cross breed B)could the whole story be a fruad so you just accept that last part, to some how help that idea from napoleon dynamite become accepted? Though it's a offical CBS story, if this is true, I'm gonna google it right now.

Edit- yup looks like ligers are real

http://www.sierrasafarizoo.com/animals/liger.htm

[MaJix]

its a very sad story, but the truth of the matter is people have their pictures taken next to wild animals all the time.  its not often you hear stories like this, about somone being killed as it happens. when i was like 7, i took a picture next to a live cheetah, but its  very unfortunate that something like this happens in the mix

[Zazoo]

A) I didn't know animals COULD cross breed

Only some can (e.g. male donkey + female horse = mule).

~Mike

[Mofoka]

Well I have never been next to a wild animal without a wall between us or plexi-glass. I once was next to a Red Hawk that my fathers friend had brought over to show us. I have always been cautious because I know you cannot take the wild away from the animal.

. its not often you hear stories like this, about somone being killed as it happens.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/grizzly_man/large.html

[Zazoo]

Sacriest encounter I've had is with a bull moose that refused to move off-trail during the rut. I was able to bushwhack around it without incident.

~Mike

[MaJix]

When i was 13, i went camping with my friend and his dad and grandfather, and one morning, i woke up with a deer sticking his head through the door of my tent.  It was actually pretty scarry lol. a huge deer head staring at me lol. i wasnt expecting it.  my friends dad unzipped the tent door and through a marshmellow or something in there so the deer would go after it.  the deer were very common around the campgrounds we were staying at. they were wild but tame enough from coming around the campgrounds all the time.  the campgrounds sat right next to the edge of a  a mountain, and the deer would come down from there in the mornings.

[Lazerblade]

The saddest part of it is- with today's technology and advancement in entertainment/media, it would have cost less and resulted in less danger to take the pictures separate and Photoshop them together, AND make the picture believable!

[Jamo]

The saddest part of it is- with today's technology and advancement in entertainment/media, it would have cost less and resulted in less danger to take the pictures separate and Photoshop them together, AND make the picture believable!

But then the girl wouldnt have the experience of standing next to a tiger.

[sithdemon]

Ahhh thats some tasty sarcasm Jamo, and duly deserved. I understand wanting to be close to animals, thats why I go to the zoo, museums and such. But only with certain kinds, and even prey animals I keep my distance. At the toronto zoo you can go into the habitat area with small kangaroos, I think the species was wallaby, only a couple feet tall. Thats about as brave as I get with wild animals, and I keep my distance from bigger dogs, while not trying to actually get afraid in case they sense it.

I've had run ins with all kinds of animals, foxes, lynxs, moose, heck even a deer IN Toronto (in a forest here, but still near the heart of the city), and I always am extra cautious, prey or predator. I don't care how aclimatized to humans a animal is, some times they react to things we can't precive, or take a move the wrong way, and like this girl you could pay for it with your life. Heck a house hold cat CAN and HAS killed a human being.

If you really want to understand a animal better, study it, make a trip to its natural habitat, visit a zoo, or animal refuge (kenya is #1 for that kinna stuff). But actualy being net to a wild animal is always risky. Sky diving is probably safer, maybe? But I think even people like jane goodall have their roughing ups from the animals they dedicate their life too. There's a movie thats comming out, about a guy that lived with some bears for a few years, video taping it while he was there, and he got killed by one of them in the end.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/grizzly_man/

[Jamo]

.

Heck a house hold cat CAN and HAS killed a human being.

What? Really? how?

[sithdemon]

one time in the states, a house cat jumped on a eldarly mans back, neck area, and dug it's claws into the mans neck. It then jumped off, and the man bled to death. The cat was of course destoryed right away, like with a dog, but any one reporting this, said for cats this is alomst unheard of. Still it CAN happen, just like running through traffic, you gotta be careful sometimes, perhaps the cat was old, or mistreated.