Swimming with tigers
Traditionally, trainers have struggled to build an attachment
with the largest of the big cats Picture: BARCROFT MEDIA
But The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, or TIGERS, near Miami, claims to have overcome the problem by encouraging both tigers and humans to swim together in a specially adapted pool
Tigers are known as the best swimmers of all the big cats with modified webbing between their toes to make their feet more like flippers
TIGERS claim that the animals love to play in the water
The hand-reared tigers are introduced to the water a few months after birth and the trainers then give one-on-one tuition to each of the animals while they are in the water
Despite the apparent danger, the trainers are never at risk. They've found that in the water people and tigers are on a more equal footing.....
...But TIGERS say that depends entirely on the specific animal
Filled with 100,00 gallons of water, one side of the TIGERS pool is made of glass,
so the public can see the handlers
and the animals up close swimming together
With a potential to grow to over 500 lbs and eight feet in length, it is often considered
that handlers will only swim
with the tigers when they are no more than a year old