Year of the (pet) Tiger
Valentine’s Day starts the year of the Tiger. According to the Chinese Zodiac, the tiger is a sign of bravery, supposedly valued as they keep away the 3 main tragedies of a household – fire, thieves and ghosts. Well they would, wouldn’t they – who wants to burgle a house with a tiger?!
Chinese have also valued tigers for their body parts, used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Tigers are endangered animals, however, their population reduced by poaching and habitat reduction.
The Indonesian Government has come up with a plan to save tigers – adopt them out as pets.
They suggest that the animals need a block of land around the size of 3 football pitches. A pair would cost around US$100,000. Criticism from wildlife groups is forthcoming, saying this is a money-making exercise and will be taken up by people in position of power.
A pet tiger?
Living with wild animals = power
Living with wild animals may be all about Power! Control of the wild and creating shock value amongst the community. It is often the rich and powerful, or those who can only wish they were, that keep large menageries of wild animals. Perhaps to inflate their egos!What do you think? Would you keep a tiger as a pet? Should people keep wild animals as pets?
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