White Tiger Attacks Roy

It finally happened. In tonight's Siegfried & Roy performance in Las Vegas, a new white tiger grabbed Roy by the neck and dragged him around the stage like "a rag doll". He's in critical condition after surgery.

Even my pussycat exhibits wild behavior and can hurt you if she wanted to.

Siegfried and Roy have been doing this act for about 30 years and I can't remember if something like this has ever happened.

Marty

finally! one for the underdogs!!! err.. undercats!

ouch! Hope he recovers...
I wonder if they will continue the act. And I wonder what they will do with this particular tiger.

David <><

A quick google news search turns up lots of articles, HERE is one chosen at random:

Sounds pretty horrible! I think that this particular tiger will have to be retired from the show, how can they trust it?

They say it was the tiger's 1st public performance. I'm sure that had something to do with it.

This shows the relative sizes of Roy and a tiger.

Brightnorm

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I don't remember anything like that happening to me!
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They need to put that one down. Or banish it to some zoo forever.

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MR Bulk said:
They need to put that one down. Or banish it to some zoo forever.

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I think the latter. I'm not so sure it's fare to the tiger to destroy it just because it was acting out on instincts.

2 thoughts:
1: the audience was drinking and eating...so the tiger only thought it was fair that he should eat and drink too.

2: If Roy was carrying an EDC light, he could have blinded the tiger or beat it off better than with a mic.

Still...its a sad story.

One report said the critter looked very scared and wasn't behaiving quite right for Roy. Roy was tapping it on the Nose with the Mic to make it perform the trick. Then Roy slipped and stumbled. When this happened the Cat lunged and grabbed him by the neck. Roy's stumbling could have been seen as an aggressive move by the agitated, newbie feline performer. That must have hurt!

... I'm sure Roy was all "choked-up" about it too.

It's their fault for trying to force these animals to do things AGAINST their common behaviour and instincts... When will mankind learn????? We have no right... no right... I don't know how they treat those animals... Either way... not the animals fault... They don't belong in such settings... it is degrading to the animal... and pathetic.. Maybe we'll wise up some day.

Remember that scene in the original Mighty Joe Young movie when the curtain went up and Joe was in chains, got pissed off, broke his binds and jumped into the audience.

I've never seen Siegfied & Roy's show but..is there a barrier between the stage and the audience?

Marty

Wasn't Mighty Joe Young about some giant fake gorilla?

I agree with Negeltu that animals shouldn't really be used for this purpose. The only way they can be trained is through forceful coercion, which is very savage and behind-the-scenes of all the fun and entertainment. If you've ever seen a circus elephant training camp, you'd think it was an Iraqi torture chamber.

That was exactly what I was getting at...hawk... How pompous and arrogant we are to use these noble and mighty creatures as our ridiculous entertainment! Just breaking their will... and that is a very dishonourable thing to do!

Hi Guys,

Definate animal lover here. When I was in Mexico, they had bull fights. I always wanteds to wear a t-shirt that said,"I'm rootin' for the bull"(no, I didn't attend the show). IMHO, if your stupid enough to get in a ring and tempt a bull, you deserve what you get.

As far as Siegfried & Roy, I believe they take wonderful care of their animals. I'm not talking about their show(I disagree against using animals for display against their will), I'm talking about the compound they live in. They seem well cared for. They also have one of the largest groups of white tigers in the world. I don't believe they will put the tiger down. I don't believe thats what Roy would want, not to mention They're an endangered species.

I saw somewhere that the animals are well cared for. But still one day eventually any wild animal will have that switch click on that tells them that there is meat standing right there for them to eat.

I was watching a young housecat the other day playing with a mouse. He was grabbing the carcass and flipping it up in the air and trying to catch it in the air. Same thing just different scale.

It is kind of like asking a dog to not sniff those places dogs love to sniff.

And everyone that watches a bullfight is rooting for the bull, they just won't admit it. I always cheer for the bull.

Poor Roy you got to feel for the fella. I mean wow that must have been scary as all get out. I wonder if he will heal ok. I hope he can talk and eat and everything like that.

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Roy said:
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I don't remember anything like that happening to me!
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My first thought when I saw this topic was, "Oh no! Who will do the runtime plots?"