By Beth Preiss
The tragic death of 17-year-old Haley Hilderbrand—killed on Aug. 18, 2005 by a tiger while having her senior picture taken—should inspire policymakers to action.
The Kansas high school student was posing for photographs with a tiger three times her size at a Mound Valley exotic animal facility when the 7-year-old Siberian tiger turned and attacked her. Posing with exotic animals has become popular among some teens seeking to add novelty to their senior photos.
Why Did the Tiger Attack?
Several news outlets speculated that the tiger licked Hilderbrand's foot and she jumped, startling the animal.
The question of why also was raised after Montecore, a 600-pound white tiger, attacked his long-time handler, Roy Horn, of Siegfried & Roy, in 2003. The U.S. Department of Agriculture compiled eyewitness accounts into more than 200 pages of a report, but failed to pinpoint the reason for the attack.
The reason these tigers attack is simple: They are tigers.
Captive, Not Tame
Responsible animal handlers do not put tigers and people together. By their very nature, these animals are explosive and efficient predators. No amount of human training or affection will alter their basic instincts.
"No big cat can be tamed or trained to be a safe, trustworthy companion," said Richard Farinato, The HSUS's Captive Wildlife Protection Director. "Tigers are hunters armed with tools and instincts to kill."
USDA regulations require exhibitors to put sufficient distance or barriers between big cats and the public to prevent this type of tragedy. The agency immediately opened an investigation into the circumstances of Hilderbrand's death, which occurred at a USDA-licensed facility.
The USDA says in its position statement "Large Wild and Exotic Cats Make Dangerous Pets," that unsuspecting children and adults have been seriously injured or killed, even when the animals involved were "only playing." It's essential for the agency to take swift and appropriate action in this case and to strictly enforce its policy that protects the public from interacting directly with big cats.
Trained professionals at accredited zoos would not consider entering cages with big cats—whether juveniles or adults—no matter how tame the cats might have been as infants. Securing doors and gates is a critical part of zoo operations, as is the constant checking of locks to ensure animals cannot escape.
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Responsible animal handlers do not put tigers and people together. |
The attack in Kansas is not an isolated incident. A look at the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition's Big Cat Incident Report reveals that since 2004 alone, more than 20 people have been injured by big cats in the United States. Two months ago, a 10-year-old Minnesota boy was left paralyzed after he was mauled by a lion at an auto shop. In April, four tigers attacked and seriously injured a woman helping to care for them outside of a Minnesota residence.
In 2003, a 10-year-old North Carolina boy was killed by a relative's 400-pound tiger. In 1999, a tiger cub bit the throat of a 5-year-old Kansas child, whose wound required more than 20 stitches. The tiger had been taken by a private zoo official to an associate's home where the incident occurred.
The Tiger Next Door
Licensed facilities can take extensive security measures that typical homeowners can never match. The fact that a tiger could be living next door puts the public at risk, a risk many people might not even know exists.
Because of the lack of regulation and reporting requirements, no precise figure is available for how many big cats are in private hands, but the estimates range between 10,000 and 15,000, including 5,000 tigers. That's more than the number of tigers remaining in the wild in India. Accredited zoos house about 300 lions, 450 tigers, 200 cheetahs, 140 leopards, 170 cougars and 90 jaguars—about 10 percent of the big cats in private hands. Reputable sanctuaries—where there would be no breeding and no direct public contact with the animals—could account for hundreds more. Most other captive big cats live in often deplorable circumstances in roadside exhibits, traveling shows, pseudo-sanctuaries, basements, barns and back yards.
For Sale on the Web
Though in danger of extinction in the wild, tigers are readily available in the United States from exotic animal dealers and the Internet.
One website advertises lion cubs for $1,800 each, and tiger cubs and cougars for $1,500 each. It advises potential buyers to call for information, availability and requirements for buying exotic cats or endangered animals, noting that permits may be required. "Prices vary and are subject to change depending on availability and quantity purchased," the website says.
Breeders and dealers claim they perform the necessary service of protecting species from extinction, but captive-bred big cats are highly unlikely candidates for reintroduction to the wild. Instead, they supply a steady stream of cubs to the market, without regard to what happens to the cats when they become too large and too dangerous for owners to handle.
Dangerous and Inhumane
The ownership of any animal carries with it the serious responsibility to provide appropriate and humane care. Where wild and exotic animals are concerned, this requires considerable expertise, specialized facilities and total dedication to the needs of the animals. Meeting this responsibility is virtually impossible for the average pet owner, and the animals invariably suffer.
People buy cubs, then find they don't want them when they grow larger and more aggressive. The animals might have been confined to cramped cages, defanged and declawed. Legitimate sanctuaries and rescue groups are inundated with calls to take these animals, but they are full to capacity. Owners might also turn over the animals to breeding, fueling the exotic animal trade.
These animals' lives can also mysteriously end. In one case, the body of a mountain lion who was declawed and had filed-down teeth—telltale signs of being a pet—was found dumped on a Kansas roadside in 2004.
If these animals escape or are released, they can wreak havoc for law enforcement and native ecosystems.
Government Action
Both state and federal governments have enacted measures to regulate big cats as pets, but further action is needed.
The Captive Wildlife Safety Act was passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in December 2003. The law prohibits interstate shipments of big cats as pets. At the time of its passage, it gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service six months to publish regulations to implement the law. The regulations still have not been published and are long overdue.
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An estimated 5,000 tigers are privately owned in the United States, more than the number remaining in the wild in India. |
In addition, the law should be expanded to cover other dangerous wild animals kept as pets. Congress is currently considering the Captive Primate Safety Act to add monkeys, chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates to the list of animals who cannot be traded across state lines as pets.
The federal government regulates interstate commerce; states decide which animals can be owned in the first place. About two dozen states have strict rules and prohibitions on keeping dangerous wild animals as pets. Most recently, Kentucky regulators prohibited private possession of big cats and other wild animals as pets.
Kansas, where Hilderbrand was killed, currently has no restrictions. However, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is in the process of considering regulations that would effectively ban big cats, bears and wolves as pets in the state. The Humane Society of the United States strongly supports such a ban, and urges the state to implement it—and expand it—as quickly as possible.
Localities can implement their own regulations as well. Hilderbrand's grandmother serves on the City Council of Udall, Kan., which has been reviewing its exotic animal regulations this summer. "Now [the need for regulations] strikes even more close to home," she reported to the Ark City Traveler. "We don't want anyone to lose anyone. We don't want people to feel what we're having to."
Wild Animals Belong in the Wild
The very wildness that draws people to big cats is also the reason people should not have direct contact with them.
The average citizen is not prepared to deal with a tiger hard-wired to cover a range of 100 miles a day and bring down prey twice their size.
"Birth in a cage, attended by loving humans, does not alter the animal's nature nor wipe away the effect of millions of years of evolution and selection for success in the wild," Farinato says. "No matter how long you've had the animal, or how well behaved the animal has been in the past, every moment spent in direct contact with a lion or tiger brings with it the risk of injury or death."
The death of Haley Hilderbrand is a tragedy that should never happen again. If authorities take common sense measures to protect public safety, no other family will have to suffer a similar loss.
What You Can Do
- Don't get a big cat or other wild animal as a pet. If you already have a pet you can no longer handle, contact your local shelter for advice. Do not release unwanted pets into the wild.
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- If you live in a state that allows big cats as pets, urge your state legislators to enact a ban. Big cats are allowed as pets, or have only minimal restrictions such as requiring a one-time permit to bring the animal into the state, in Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Other states allow them with a permit or prohibit possession of all or some big cats as pets.
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- Ask Interior Secretary Gale Norton to release the regulations for the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, which prohibits interstate commerce in big cats as pets.
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- If you see big cats for sale on the Internet, contact the website's Internet Service Provider. In response to complaints from concerned visitors, ISPs may remove sites if they determine the content violates their user's agreement. You can identify the ISP at h4ha.org/stopcruelty.
Beth Preiss is director of The HSUS' Exotic Pets Campaign.
