Is it possible for a person without tools or a firearm to harass a jaguar, the world’s third largest cat with the strongest bite of all the cats? This is a slightly bizarre story from Hyderabad, India.
A stockbroker allegedly bribed his way into a zoo in Hyderabad because he loves animals and wanted to interact with a jaguar in a cage. He had someone video his experience and a person who appears to be the zookeeper is also in the video! I presume he is the gentleman who was bribed. Extraordinary. He was arrested as he was in breach of criminal law for the country. I wonder if he was arrested for animal abuse! If he was, they have the wrong man. They need to arrest the zoo management instead.
What is also extraordinary is that he was described as having harassed the jaguar when in fact, judging by the video, the jaguar is delighted to have some sort of interaction with anybody because he is stuck in this seedy, pokey little black hole of a cage described as his “night house”. Jaguars often hunt at night and their home ranges extend to around 140 square miles! A “night house” is not quite what a jaguar needs. This captive jaguar appears to be what is described as sub-adult meaning not quite fully grown as he looks fairly small.
The man plays with the jaguar’s foreleg, paw and mouth which is no doubt dangerous and he could have been severely injured but it appears that the Jaguar, as mentioned, was so pleased to interact that he is very gentle with the arrested man.
The arrested man is Areeb Taha Medhi. He is aged 26. He posted the video online.
As mentioned, the Jaguar is the third largest cat in the world with the strongest bite of any of the world’s cats by quite a margin. The bite is considerably stronger than that of the lion and tiger.
I really like this guy and admire his love for cats; but, Jaguars are not to be played with or to try to make pets.
I agree with Irish; such a cat can never be returned to the wild once humans have integrated them into a semi-domesticated state.
This story saddens me big time,not because of the bloke but because this beautiful cat is stuck inside a dam cage when it should be running free,when a big cat like this interacts with a human for attention then that cat truly is a prisoner and cannot be released back into the wild because humans would poach it,I would like to see it placed in a sanctuary!
I feel exactly the same way. I hate, with a vengeance, zoos.