Video: 17 Year Old Animal Trainer Sleeps With Tiger in Her Bed
Posted on February 12, 2011
ABC news reports on the story of 17-year-old Felicia Frisco, who is currently raising a tiger from birth. The Bengal tiger, who now weighs 100 pounds, sleeps on her bed and will continue to do so until he is one year old. At that time he will join the other tigers in the compound of animals her family runs. Felicia comes from a family of animal trainers. She is working with the tiger to establish a bond for training; he is not a pet.
Jack Hannah says the practice is dangerous because even experienced animal trainers can't tame a wild animal. But the trainers say she is a professional doing a job and they are aware of the danger. The expert Robin Roberts talked to said that thousands of hours of time is required to bond with an animal.
Tigers are currently endangered, and may be extinct within twelve years according to the WWF. Their habitat will most mostly destroyed world wide within a decade. The only tigers that exist will be in zoos or in training facilities, which is a pretty sad state of affairs. Take a look: