Smuggler the Big Cat!!!

I have been a sleeping volunteer of Insync Exotics, a dedicated rescue center for large cats such as tigers, lions, cougars, leopards, and bobcats. Time, distance, and job constraints have prevented me from spending as much time as I would like to volunteering at Insync. But I am still on their volunteer mailing list and get updates of the happenings out there. Recently I received a mail that informed about how a new tiger cub named Smuggler had arrived at Insync and adapted to life here. The mail also had some great pictures of Smuggler which I thought it best to share online here and encourage you all to visit Insync's website or better still if you are located in the DFW Metro area, visit Insync's shelter at Wylie, and believe me you will enjoy it a lot.

Tiger Display in Houston Downtown Aquarium

houston-oct-4- 021, originally uploaded by srinidhilv.

When I visited the Downtown Aquarium in Houston, I was a little surprised to see this exhibit. This white tiger has been placed in neatly maintained and probably sanitized glass enclosure. The small enclosure has a fountain, platforms and steps for the large cat to walk around.

I couldn't quite understand why have installed the sculpture of what appears like a crude version of an ascetic sitting for meditation. And the Arabian looking pot in the corner coupled with smooth tiles on the floor, makes it all look so fake. I don't know whether the Aquarium authorities were trying to create the semblance of a prosperous Indian hermitage which has a pet tiger or what.

The final effect of this is that, though it looks cheesy, visitors especially children seem to enjoy it.

A small statistic I overheard at the Aquarium was that "There are more tigers living in captivity in Texas, than living free in India". That is indeed bad news for me, I wonder if conservation efforts will ever be stepped up and there will be more tigers roaming around the Sunderbans??? or whether they will be poached by Chinese, Bangladeshi and our own Indian hunters?? only time can answer this...