For a person who works with big cats, I can’t imagine there’s a more terrifying and tense situation than the one which unfolded at the Pensacola Interstate Fair yesterday. A female trainer was putting on a show in front of a group of children when one of the tigers bit into her leg and began to attack. Dragging her away, taking all of the power away from the trainer in the situation, all while children and families looked on in horror.
This is pretty difficult to watch, as the trainer is being attacked and she’s forced to whip the tiger along with another trainer in order to get the tiger to release its death grip…This is all going on with another tiger in the background:
I think the most chilling part about this footage is how you can hear the trainer’s voice transition from resolute and composed to one of terror and panic as she realizes that the tiger is attacking her and she’s lost all control. For me, that was the hardest part about this video, not children walking away in panic or the cameraman coming to the realization fo what they were filming (a tiger attacking its trainer).
via NYPost:
Trainer Vicenta Pages told a 2-year-old Bengal tiger named Gandhi to “get over, all the way,” but the massive animal ignored her commands during a show for children on a field trip at the Pensacola Interstate Fair on Tuesday.
“Get over all the way, Gandhi, Gandhi,” Pages said, according to a video of the incident. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, Gandhi, no, Gandhi, Gandhi, Gandhi no!”
Pages’ husband then rushes into the cage, hitting the animal repeatedly with a stick as his wife struggled with Gandhi on the ground while shouting for help.
The least shocking part of this incident? The fact that it happened in Florida. This is quintessential ‘WTFlorida‘, and frankly, I’d be flabbergasted if this took place anywhere other than the Sunshine State.