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Other Tiger Island fun at Dreamworld
Even without the special personal tiger experience at Dreamworld, the Tiger Island setup is very impressive. The main habitat is separated from the viewing public by a deep moat, so you can watch the tigers hanging about throughout the day unimpeded. There are also twice daily "behaviour presentations".
Technical info and thanks
All photos and video were taken by Husband so I was free to enjoy the sights with my own eyes. Unfortunately Youtube has sucked the resolution out of the video (and there's no audio), so you only get a general idea. Here's a lovely still taken in the public viewing area:
Still inevitably compressed, but better. No tinkering or long lenses, just our little point-and-shoot camera, which was also used for the silent video capture. If anyone wants to see better resolution versions I'm happy to arrange a hookup with a laptop.
Tigers hanging about
In the following video, Mohan again demonstrates that he is, in fact, alive, and shows off his beautifully liquid muscles as he strolls about the enclosure. Although my first impression of him was not entirely positive, I grew more and more attached as the day wore on and I got to observe his behaviour. Note the presence of the handlers; their main job is to keep the tigers from attacking each other. Towards the end of the clip, one of the other orange tigers indulges in a very catlike stretch and roll.
What appeared to be a large open wound on Mohan's elbow was a callous from the half sitting position. Also perhaps not clear from the compressed images is the fact that half of his face was blue. On his morning walk he had smeared a sign and taken some paint with him.
We saw plenty of behaviour, for every tiger that came into the enclosure had to do at least one scent-check lap, and some of the older adolescent cubs demonstrated Behaviour. One of these older cubs had to be checked sharply by a handler, for it was getting ready to jump up on one of the platforms to join an adult. I believe them when they say the cub would have got a pasting.
The pool was very popular on a hot day:
Cubs
The youngest cubs there were a set of 3x 6-month-old Sumatrans. They were too big for the special nursery display, but you could get quite close to them in a small glassed enclosure.
In the following clip, one of the cubs has a big stretch and roll... and then rests for a while to gather his (her?) energy for the next performance.
Our favourite clip was taken at this enclosure, and shows the handlers interacting with the cubs. One of them (that would be a cub) is being removed to go on a walk around the park, but isn't particularly interested in going. Fortunately at this age they're small enough to carry, but not for long! At maturity these will reach about 90kg, less than half the size of the Bengals.
Behaviour presentation
Twice a day the handlers deliver a tiger behavioural display. It's not a show, and the behaviours are all natural. If the tigers don't feel like it, they won't do it. My white tiger Mohan fell into this category, with a bit of clearly expressed "Screw that" behaviour.
We had staked out and fiercely defended a prime spot at the front, so got a great view of tigers climbing and jumping. What impressed me most was the casual, graceful, rippling quality to their movement. They moved with the lightness of a housecat 1/20th of their size.
This tiger took a decidedly casual approach to the whole running-and-jumping thing, but shows off the elegance and power of the creature to perfection.
And finally, because I can, a sideways tiger. This is most defintiely *not* begging behaviour!
Next post
The rest of Dreamworld. Yes, they had other stuff.
Technical info and thanks
All photos and video were taken by Husband so I was free to enjoy the sights with my own eyes. Unfortunately Youtube has sucked the resolution out of the video (and there's no audio), so you only get a general idea. Here's a lovely still taken in the public viewing area:
Still inevitably compressed, but better. No tinkering or long lenses, just our little point-and-shoot camera, which was also used for the silent video capture. If anyone wants to see better resolution versions I'm happy to arrange a hookup with a laptop.
Tigers hanging about
In the following video, Mohan again demonstrates that he is, in fact, alive, and shows off his beautifully liquid muscles as he strolls about the enclosure. Although my first impression of him was not entirely positive, I grew more and more attached as the day wore on and I got to observe his behaviour. Note the presence of the handlers; their main job is to keep the tigers from attacking each other. Towards the end of the clip, one of the other orange tigers indulges in a very catlike stretch and roll.
What appeared to be a large open wound on Mohan's elbow was a callous from the half sitting position. Also perhaps not clear from the compressed images is the fact that half of his face was blue. On his morning walk he had smeared a sign and taken some paint with him.
We saw plenty of behaviour, for every tiger that came into the enclosure had to do at least one scent-check lap, and some of the older adolescent cubs demonstrated Behaviour. One of these older cubs had to be checked sharply by a handler, for it was getting ready to jump up on one of the platforms to join an adult. I believe them when they say the cub would have got a pasting.
The pool was very popular on a hot day:
Cubs
The youngest cubs there were a set of 3x 6-month-old Sumatrans. They were too big for the special nursery display, but you could get quite close to them in a small glassed enclosure.
In the following clip, one of the cubs has a big stretch and roll... and then rests for a while to gather his (her?) energy for the next performance.
Our favourite clip was taken at this enclosure, and shows the handlers interacting with the cubs. One of them (that would be a cub) is being removed to go on a walk around the park, but isn't particularly interested in going. Fortunately at this age they're small enough to carry, but not for long! At maturity these will reach about 90kg, less than half the size of the Bengals.
Behaviour presentation
Twice a day the handlers deliver a tiger behavioural display. It's not a show, and the behaviours are all natural. If the tigers don't feel like it, they won't do it. My white tiger Mohan fell into this category, with a bit of clearly expressed "Screw that" behaviour.
We had staked out and fiercely defended a prime spot at the front, so got a great view of tigers climbing and jumping. What impressed me most was the casual, graceful, rippling quality to their movement. They moved with the lightness of a housecat 1/20th of their size.
This tiger took a decidedly casual approach to the whole running-and-jumping thing, but shows off the elegance and power of the creature to perfection.
And finally, because I can, a sideways tiger. This is most defintiely *not* begging behaviour!
Next post
The rest of Dreamworld. Yes, they had other stuff.
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