The one thing I hate as much as croc wranglers showing off is people who keep big cats – tigers, lions, pumas and leopards – as pets. For all their “animal loving” ways, this, unfortunately, is allowed in many Western countries. In India, it’s against the law but who’s to say what goes on in the outlying farms of the rich and famous. There are many videos and serials on this: inevitably they depict swaggering rednecks sauntering into enclosures and getting into loving clinches with a magnificent lion or tiger or a group of them, all of which with a single swipe of a paw can take their smug faces off. Probably, most of the animals must think it to be beneath their dignity – unless something sets them off and all hell breaks loose. But it’s really demeaning to see such gorgeous hunting animals, reduced to the state of overgrown pussycats. They ought to be out there in the wild, stalking, chasing and bringing down even five-ton beasts. Most of these big cats, unfortunately, have usually been rescued as cubs and lovingly brought up in human homes, and, thus, been saved from an untimely end. And yes, it must take some courage to swagger into an enclosure with a 200kg lion and “wrestle” affectionately with it. But if the cameras are rolling.it’s all worth it. The ignoramuses, who keep these animals as pets, even allow their children into the enclosures with them – what an ego boost, even if it is the height of foolishness. In some national parks abroad, big cats have gotten so used to tourists vehicles that they even climb into them to have selfies taken with their petrified admirers. Merely letting loose a couple of deep-bass growls, these poor beasts have lost all sense of decency and self-respect. In many cases where a cub has been orphaned and rescued, the intention is to eventually rehabilitate it in the wild again. But this is a notoriously difficult thing to do because the animal is accustomed to human beings and there’s no saying what it might do once free. At Gir National Park, neither do the lions pay great attention to the villagers living in and around, nor do the latter bother the lions (though this is, sadly, changing as the lion population rises and preys on livestock). No gung-ho bravado – the villagers just acknowledge the presence of the animals and politely give way. And there have been reports dating back years (read Jim Corbett) of village women quietly walking past tigers on jungle paths and coming to no harm. This, too, is sadly changing as we become the hideously intolerant society we’re heading towards, and lynch animals. Elephants, hippos and rhinos – also kept as “pets” or for working purposes – have usually been born and raised among us, and so are apparently used to us. Yet, an elephant, loyal to its mahout for decades may suddenly go berserk and attack him one day. The pachyderms really are best left to muse and sway in the jungles. There’s also a fondness for keeping dangerous reptiles and creepy-crawlies. Some people (again, mostly abroad) get their kicks by keeping gigantic pythons as pets, until one morning they find the toddler missing. Then, it’s released in the nearest swamp (this happens with ‘pet’ alligators, too) – in Florida, this has become a major problem. Some full-grown, beefcakes prefer cuddling with hairy venomous tarantulas, and have them walk up and down their arms or the backs of their thick necks. With some extremely rare bird species, there is no hope other than to take eggs, hatch them and raise the chicks in captivity. But keeping in mind that the chicks have to be released, the caretakers often don gloves which mimic the chick’s parents’ faces – so it is unaware that a human being is feeding it. In Israel, they recently had a military-specification drone drop pieces of meat to a rare vulture whose mother had died and father couldn’t keep up. But yes, imagine the ego-kick you’d get if you had a Bengal tiger lying by your feet in the drawing-room – or better still, at your side when you go for a walk in Delhi’s Lodi Gardens, while the strutters go about with their imported poodles and Pomeranians. That’s until your pussycat decides that the poodle or Pom and their owner might just make a handy snack! I suppose it’s difficult to raise a yowling cub without falling for its baby charms. Like any parent, you will love it unconditionally even as it grows up and goes through its obnoxious adolescent phase. What could be more fulfilling than when it charges up to you and puts its massive paws around you and purrs like a lovesick diesel generator? And, heck, the cameras are rolling – so the whole world is watching this awestruck! But just pause and think what it does for the dignity and reputation of the animal – remember, big cats are not pussycats.
