Biggest Siberian Tiger in the World (photo)?
Is this the biggest Siberian tiger in the world? He/she is captive and tame at least with this man. I don’t know who he is. Possibly one of the private zoo owners of America. The Siberian tiger is the world’s biggest cat anyway but of course they vary in size and weight. The maximum seems to be either 716 or 790 pounds depending on your source but I am sure people will claim that this cat can be heavier. Siberian tigers are difficult to weigh 😉 . Especially when they are wild!
Extremely large Siberian tiger.
The world’s largest cat is the Hercules a liger (lion/tiger hybrid) but this Siberian appears to be a similar size but a bit smaller. I think Hercules weighs about 1000 pounds.
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Where in Florida is Carl Bovard’s habitat for Sampson.
Yes, Bob, there is no tiger habitat at Carl’s place. Just cages and some grass and trees all of which are a tiny fraction of the space required by a tiger.
Having visited the link Michele provided, I heard Carl question whether there really is a safe wild anymore for big cats to live. It’s food for thought. What are their chances in a world of cement? I think this is something to weigh.
And, yes, he apparently, had a leopard declawed; but, it’s lawful here. Not ethical, but legal. So, there was nothing that could be done.
Dee, I’d read that in 2006 the USDA stipulated a regulation in the Federal Animal Welfare Act, prohibiting licensees from declawing or defanging their animals. I mistakenly assumed that meant declawing of big cats was now considered an offence. Or is the USDA pretty poor at enforcing those regulations?
As for protecting tigers, I prefer Tony Winata’s project (Tiger Island) which ensures Sumatran tigers have some natural habitat where they can live freely and in realtive safety. Mind you he’s spent around $20 million US of his own money setting this up.
The private zoo owners do argue that as there is no place left in the wild for tigers (almost) they have to have zoos. This is an argument of defeat and failure in my opinion.
Totally agree. People did not evolve for cages neither did tigers. Sad and depressing world for animals when we evolved to dominate it. more effort should go into saving forests it can be done, creating transit routes for animals to move freely, repopulate and spread their dwindling gene pool, a concept beyond the understanding of so many of these people sadly. I think this is a big Bengal not a Siberian he has short fur, though I could be wrong.
Thanks for agreeing! In general the human is ignorant.
That magnificent creature is called Sampson, weighing in at over 700lbs and standing 9’6″ on his back legs. Tigers truly are beautiful and I wish more countries and governments were actively involved in saving them.
The man is Carl Bovard who keeps numerous big cats at his Florida home which he opens up to the viewing public. He was reported for declawing a leopard, but was let off by the USDA when he claimed ignorance of the law. Allegations have been made that he purchased the big cats he uses as “rescues” to fund himself.
http://donoghue.smugmug.com/Florida/Tigers/i-dD5kSdH
I hate the story you revealed of Carl.
But, I have to admit that Sampson is a gorgeous cat but should be left in the wild.