Maya, the Bengal tiger

[foxymoonheart]

Just found pictures of Maya, a tiger at Greenville Wildlife Park, where I used to volunteer at. He was mostly grown by the time I met him, but I miss him, and the other animals, dearly. Maya always used to try hiding behind a small bush in his enclosure, trying to be camouflaged

Comments

[schnee]

Oh, he's a cutie! And wow, yeah, those paws are big.

Hyenas, too! How lovely - hyenas don't get nearly enough love, by and large. They're such fascinating animals, and they can be surprisingly gentle (although the same things said about tigers go for them, too - they're still very large apex predators that have the ability of easily killing or seriously injuring you).

Spotted hyenas, BTW, or another kind?

[foxymoonheart]

The hyena I was able to interact with was definitely sweet and gentle. I'd pet his head and he'd growl contentedly at me. (For those not in the know, a growl-like sound from hyenas is good. It's the laugh you have to be wary of.) Of course, we were always very careful, and weren't allowed far into any of the enclosures, and only under extreme supervision.

It's been years, and sadly I don't recall his name. I do believe he was a spotty though, yes.

[schnee]

That sounds wonderful. It's unlikely to ever happen, but I'd love to be able to do that - interact with or even touch a real spotted hyena (and have her/him enjoy it, and maybe take an interest in me as well - the good kind, anyway).

[mishicougar]

So cute, thanks for sharing :)

[foxymoonheart]

Anytime, Mishi! Just wish I had more pictures from my time there to share.

[porsupah]

Paaawws! That was the thing I that leapt out at me (so to speak) on visiting a small zoo in Southern Oregon some time back - even though the tiger cubs were quite young, those paws immediately gave away that these were not your average moggie. =:D

Quite astounding, just how much food they go through! And that's basically all protein, too! Such volumes are easy to understand with herbivores, where the nutritional yields are rather lower, especially with grasses, even with highly efficient digestive systems as with rabbits.

[foxymoonheart]

Oh yes, the paws are huge. Cute, sure, but always something to be very cautious off. Such animals, even friendly, don't always realize their strength nor how sharp their claws are.

As for food, indeed. We had one room devoted to food for the large carnivores, and it was packed to the brim with meat. Rather reminded me of a scene from the original Rocky.

[schnee]

Unrelated, but - happy birthday, dear!