Posted on 08/18/2005 3:38:13 PM PDT by xjcsa
MOUND VALLEY, Kan.
A Bengal tiger attacked and killed a teenage girl who was posing for her senior high school pictures at an animal sanctuary Thursday in southeast Kansas, authorities said.
The Labette County Sheriff's office identified the victim as Haley R. Hilderbrand, 17, of Altamont. A news release said 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 attacked her.
Officers and handlers killed the animal. Emergency personnel were not able to revive Hilderbrand.
Why did she have to have a tiger in her senior portrait?
Such a tragic end to a young life.
-PJ

Too bad, though. I wish her family well.
Whoa?
Tragic. However, tigers are NOT just big 'kitty cats'. My 18 lb. Bengal is as much as I can handle at times.
These tigers are raised by humans from cubs..used to being handled..and usually quite safe..but occasionally something triggers an instant response. It also doesn't have to have been an attack.if the tiger leaped on her, playfully..with NO harmful intent..one accidental swipe of the paw could have broken her neck..Or, it could have been something like the scent of the perfume or hairspray she was wearing that triggered an attack response. We may never know..
What do you want to bet the words "don't worry" were used to calm the teenager.
They should have given the animal to the family. The family could decide to keep it or kill it.
Hey..I'm startin t' think these wild animals are...dangerous!!
and usually quite safe..
The problem is, in a situation like this, the safety factor is all up to the tiger.
(Note to self: stay away from bengal tigers.)

Did you read that article about 'scientists' wanting to
transplant lions and elephants in the western states to
control elk herds and to bring back plant diversity
as it was in the days before humans infected the land...
While at the same time preserving African wildlife...
Freaking wacko scientists..and Third Wayers...
Want 2/3 of the humans dead so the elite can enjoy a primitive earth unspoiled by the unter menchen..
Ja Ja mein furer vee vill get right on that....
How sad... I bet she thought she loved tigers.
Unfortunately, the unnatural life the tiger was put into doesn't make it no longer a tiger. I'm sorry it was killed. They are too rare to be wasted for acting like a predator.
ping
"Unfortunately, the unnatural life the tiger was put into doesn't make it no longer a tiger."
You can take the tiger out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the tiger.
>>>" give it to the family they could decide to keep it or kill it">>>>
What a bizarre suggestion. I am sure they would want to keep it around as a reminder of what it did to their daughter. NOT!
"..which was being restrained by its handler, when the animal attacked her."
YOUR FIRED!
-PJ
What a bizarre suggestion. I am sure they would want to keep it around as a reminder of what it did to their daughter. NOT!
I don't know, a really GOOD taxidermist could have done
a stunning job of capturing the moment!
It would be pricey though.
Extremely sad news.
By the way, it doesn't make much difference, but this Washington Post link has it as a Siberian tiger:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801167.html
Additional info: Doug Billingsly and his family opened the 80-acre sanctuary in 1994. According to the sanctuary's Web site, its animals include lions, leopards, tigers and bears. The site says the sanctuary has an affiliated Animal Entertainment Productions, which trains animals for stage performances, movies, television shows and magic shows.
Damn. Poor kid.
Some please call the Darwin Award's Committee.
You take your chances, you pay the price. These people who think they can live with grizzlies, swim with Great Whites, and handle crocodiles are stupid. They are supposed to be wild animals. This tiger should not have been killed just for being a tiger.
I wonder if she and her parents were animal rights activists?
This kitty reserved the right to be a predator.
She could have been with her boyfriend just prior to the shoot. Or on her monthly cycle. Animals know. They Always know.
A seven year old tiger? Only when the tiger wanted to be "restrained."
Stupid decision.
This kitty reserved the right to be a predator.Animals have rights now?
That picture brings back fond memories. I did just that when I was about that age. The "wall plugs" then were sockets in which you screwed the plugs. Mine didn't have a plug in it and the knife just went right in.
Wonder what stage of her menstual cycle she was in.
Poor kid.
That being said...Darwin award winner.
I went to a sanctuary like that over near Huntsville Ala. some years ago, lions tigers, etc.
My friend was debugging their computer. It seemed almost every room in the house had a large caliber fire arm in it.
Of course I believe animals have rights!
Animals have the right to:
Feed my body
Clothe my body
and Fill my bank account
My experioence is that even a 6 pound house cat can be more than a match for a 70 pound dog, especially if the dog is fairly laid back, like a lab. The soft little kitty can turn into an instant flying could of knives and needles.
You're sick, I like that in a person. ;9)
My bet is she had long hair. The movement of long hair sets big cats off (house cats too). No matter how tame they are they are hardwired to kill.
Interesting that the law has changed so much that the old common law would be seen as bizarre.
As maha rushie likes to say "A tiger is a tiger."
That's right. It should have been killed, cut into small pieces, and buried outside town.
Have people in Kansas not heard of Photoshop?
They could have had her sitting next to a tiger in front of the Eiffel Tower surrounded by Hobbits.
Sounds like the kind of thing a young budding serial killer does. I bet you sit out on your porch and shoot at cats and anything else that moves too.
It was Alabama. What makes you think lions and tigers had anything to do with it?
I sure learned a lot about electricity from him that day.
Well, that true, but the lions and Tigers kept the
riffraff out.
Sad -- Wouldn't Photoshop have been sufficient?
What? They don't have the concept of "practice" in Oregon? :->
Missed. That is common law as it was in the old days.
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