Holding a stick shouting ‘No’ at a large Bengal tiger hardly seems like a viable idea, but this was indeed the advice from Goosey Fernandes, the owner of the recently missing tiger callled Panjo. Recaptured near Verena squatter camp 40km from Bronkhorstspruit, Panjo had been roaming free for the past few days.
Holding a stick shouting ‘No’ at a large Bengal tiger hardly seems like a viable idea, but this was indeed the advice from Goosey Fernandes, the owner of the recently missing tiger callled Panjo. Recaptured near Verena squatter camp 40km from Bronkhorstspruit, Panjo had been roaming free for the past few days.
Some added advice was: "Give him some chicken." Do people usually carry chickens with them?
Fernandes refers to Panjo as “semi-tame” and offered the dubious advice for the unsuspecting tiger-spotter. This calls into question much of the thinking of animal owners. Is ‘semi’ not enough to suggest that a stick, a chicken and some English might be insufficient to safeguard against an attack from a naturally carnivorous predator?
I am not sure if it is the familiarity that comes from living with animals that makes people think that they know them. Or that of the many people who have stroked little Panjo the kitty, no one has ever taken a swiping claw to the face. But regardless of past behaviours, there is always the caution from animal experts that these critters can be unpredictable.
Circus accidents
This unpredictability can cause such a stir to the animal owner that they will make up reasons as to why this is perfectly explicable. Take Roy Horn of Siegfried and Roy acclaim. Horn was a performer in Las Vegas who used to have tigers jump through fiery hoops and other such malarkey that people try to pass off as entertainment. In a performance Horn was bitten and dragged off stage by one of his pet tigers. He also suffered from a stroke that left him partially paralysed. This is unfortunate, but Horn still maintains that the tiger’s bite and drag routine was actually animal intuition. The tiger supposedly could tell that Horn was suffering from a stroke and he was bitten as a protective act. Now that’s is an interesting take.
Recently I was attacked by a very vicious dog. It was white, fluffy and small. Quite a convincing disguise I assure you. The owner of the house and dog let me into her property where this charging beast bit me. I only sustained a bruise, so I am luckier than Horn, but the dog owner’s response was: “She has never done that before.” No real apology or concern, merely the relentless defence of this terrible beast’s character.
Before capture, I was worried about the unfortunate sod who, in full confidence, might have confronted Panjo the tiger with a raised stick in one hand and a clucking chicken in the other. Growling swirls of orange and black, flapping wings and mangled shouts of "No!"
And Fernandes, well he would probably say something like: “Panjo’s never done that before.”
