Posted on 08/19/2005 6:47:26 AM PDT by Undertow
Tiger Attacks, Kills Teen Posing For Senior Pictures
POSTED: 6:33 pm EDT August 18, 2005
UPDATED: 6:56 pm EDT August 18, 2005
MOUND VALLEY, Kan. -- A Bengal tiger attacked and killed a teenage girl Thursday at a southeast Kansas animal sanctuary.
Haley Hilderbrand, 17, of Altamont, Kan., was posing with the tiger for her senior high school pictures at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary.
A news release from the Labette County Sheriff's Office said the big cat was being restrained by its handler, but it attacked the teenager, anyway.
The 7-year-old tiger was killed.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Playing with fire is safer...
So how'd the pictures turn out?
Reminds me of Grizzly Man that Treadmont guy.
Sadly the animals were killed. Peta ought be proud.
I am so sorry for the family of this young lady. What can a person say in such a situation?
Greta to invetigate.
Was the tiger killed before or after the girl died? I have never heard of senior pictures being taken this way. Is this done in other places?
Ping!
The only good 'insert large pedatory animal here' is a dead one.
My heart does break for this family...a terrible sad loss.
"Reminds me of Grizzly Man that Treadmont guy."
Reminds me of Rush. Like he says, "a tiger is a tiger".
As Rush says, "..a tiger's a tiger". No doubt some nitwit liberal cooked up this idea. Unbelievable!!!
Funny that yesterday we had a thead on re-introducing megafauna to the Great Plains: elephants, lions, cheetahs. Because humans can co-exist with really vicious predators. There's almost never a tragic accident ...
The Tiger later signed her yearbook, "Have a nice summer, don't ever change."
That tiger is an SOB.
BWAAAAAAHAAA
Rush
While it is very sad that the young woman lost her life, it is also sad that the tiger lost it's life. A tiger is a born furocious killer. Plucking it from it's natural habitat and placing it in captivity will not erase what mother nature intended it for. Killing the tiger was unnecessary. And before anyone says it, I am NOT a liberal animal rights activist!...lol
Yeah, I'm getting some piranha fish for the pool this weekend, the kids will love it.
"Bad Kitty!"
Idiots just won't learn...
"WHOOPS?"
Ugh...wild animals are wild animals. I won't even do the swimming with dolphins thing. Those are big evil animals ;)
You might be able to convince me too pose with a tiger cub (actually i think it might be fun). At least when he goes crazy he won't be able to eat me in one gulp or eviscerate me in one "playful" swat.
I wouldn't call you one, it's just plain old common sense.
yea, whats next sending your daughter who just graduated from HS to Aruba for a week. Then teaching her not to go make out with boys she doesn't know on the beach?
"While it is very sad that the young woman lost her life, it is also sad that the tiger lost it's life. A tiger is a born furocious killer. Plucking it from it's natural habitat and placing it in captivity will not erase what mother nature intended it for. Killing the tiger was unnecessary."
I totally agree. That tiger was killed for doing what comes instinctively. People do stupid, risky things and then destroy the animals when they react naturally. You can take the tiger out of the wild, but you cannot take the wild out the tiger. Needless deaths. So sad, all the way around.
Let me know if you would like on or off the WTF! ping list.
Oh no! It appears that someone has kidnapped the kitty!
ACK!
The tiger should not have been killed.
Make sure and feed the tiger before you take the pictures.
Since the tiger was, unjustly I believe too, killed, they should just take the carcass to a taxidermist, have it stuffed, then use it for next years pictures. That makes sense to me.
Taxidermy is cool. Just ask Norman Bates...:)
I agree the tiger should not have been killed, however because of the particular tiger's actions, I feel additional pictures with John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Cindy S. and Micheal Moore should have been scheduled.
I would PAY to be allowed - every time the zoo has a litter, the news crew goes out & they get to play with them & they're just as cute as can be. But those are CUBS. Anybody who plays around with a full grown tiger is nuts. You'd think her folks would have seen at least one of the stories about Siegfred (or was it Roy?) that got all chewed up by a tiger he'd known for years, right there on stage.
This one was touch and go for a while:
This area of Kansas is in the middle of nowhere, USA. Greta isn't interested as it would pull her away from the lush paradise of Aruba.
re: tiger should not have been killed.
Amen!
My gosh, tigers are magnificient animals aren't they? And I love that picture. Doesn't exactly make me want to go out and hug a tiger though. I'll be happy to continue to admire them from afar, thank you very much.
"A news release from the Labette County Sheriff's Office said the big cat was being restrained by its handler, but it attacked the teenager, anyway."
Ever try to "restrain" a 7 year old kid who is out of control? Now try it with a tiger.
That's great!!!
Very good point. Guess people do a lot of stupid things.
GREAT List. Tack me on.
I'm with you.
...and after a night of heavy drinking
I agree with you. I feel sorry for everyone.
This reminds me of a story that appeared in the local media about 20 years ago. We have an amusement park called "Marine World Africa USA" in northern California, in the city of Vallejo for those of you who know California.
During this time the Marine World use to feature Bengal tigers walking freely around the park restrained only by a thin chain that could not hold a determined angry toy poodle! When I took my eight year old son to the park and we were suddenly confronted by one of these tigers he could not stop petting the beautiful cat. My heart was in my throat the entire time and I gently pulled my son away and walked in the opposite direction. I gave the handler a scowl and he told me "He would not hurt anyone. He was born here and is completely domesticated."
Apparently the handlers were very confindent with their ability to control these "domesticated" cats and started showing them at the local high schools.
Freemont High School's mascot is a tiger. You guessed it. Marine World thought it would be a great idea to feature one its cats at the Friday afternoon school football rally in the main auditorium. The students were not aware that a live Bengal tiger was going to come on stage to kick off the rally.
At the start of the rally a announcement was made and the students were told they could expect a "neat" surprise. Very shortly after the announcement, from behind the curtain a 450 pound Bengal tiger came on stage with a handler who was restraining the cat with a very thin chain.
At the sight of the tiger the students collectively gasped and then fell silent. Within moments they started cheering and screaming wildly. They thought this was the "coolest" thing in the world. The high pitched screams of 2,000 students freaked the tiger and it stood up on its hind legs and growled -- very loudly.
The students shocked back into reality immediately stopped screaming and looked petrified. The tiger returned to all fours and fell silent. The students relieved and visions of being eaten alive gone, soon started talking. At first in only hushed tones. Then they started giggling nervously within no time at all they were yelling, screaming and cheering again.
Freaked again, the tiger this time bolted from his handler and leaped into the crowd of students. Two thousand students were in sheer panic. They were screaming, crying, pushing, running and shoving their way to the exit doors. Meanwhile the tiger is literally on the backs of students leaping from one group of huddled and terrified students to another.
Nobody could control the students or the tiger. The exit doors were smashed, the counselors, teachers and coaches looked on in horror, and the handler tried desperately to control the vaulting tiger with verbal commands.
After about two minutes of absolute terror the tiger was restrained. Amazingly not one student was killed. Officials at Marine World told the media that the tiger was not angry. It was just very happy and excited like the students. When the students started cheering and yelling the tiger just wanted to be part of the celebration.
I do not remember everything that happened but I do remember one 16 year old male required over 70 stitches to close the wound on his back. Apparently while leaping from student to student the tiger's claws ripped the clothes and flesh off many young students.
Hey, if a happy tiger can send dozens of students to the hospital by being playful can you imagine how much damage and angry tiger could do?
I pleased to note that the policy of allowing tigers to walk freely around the park with minimal restraints has been curtailed at Marine World for the past 20 years.
You are a really funny guy.
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