The Subic Getaway Trois: Behold, the Panthera tigris

Zoobic boasts of their tiger safari as the highlight of the tour. It comes right after the part where your group goes in the serpentarium where you will get to observe dozens of beautiful snakes in glass encasings. Should you go and visit Zoobic, do opt to be the group to do the tiger-feeding. It would cost you an extra P200 for a live chicken bait but then your group would be treated like royalty. Royalty, in a sense, because your party gets to take a jeep where there are only a limited number of passengers as compared to other groups who will be crammed up in theirs. This is also a big plus for photo enthusiasts as you will get a closer shot of this beautiful animal in all its grand glory. The ride is virtully safe as the windows of the jeepney you are to take on to the safari are sealed with railings to protect the passengers from the unpredictable temper of these creatures.

Do note that as explained by guides, most of the young tigers awere actually born and raised in captivity. That they are taking very good care of them with the appropriate nourishments and attention. It is evident that they are actually telling the truth since the tigers looked really healthy and happy. (Again, as with almost all pictures on this blog, please click on the images for a larger view.)First, the jeeps, led by the "feeding" group, go inside the safari gates in search for the tiger who is hungry enough take the bait. Our group made several tauntings but secceeded in getting the attention of the alpha male tiger on the third try. Once a tiger made the move, signifying his interest on the chicken, the jeep would then circle around the safari to give the intent tiger his chase to the prey-cum-lunch hanging by the adidas-ankles via a rope whose ends are held by the able safari guide. The chase is actually a need. A necessity from the point of view of the tiger as this all the more makes the eating more satisfying.
After what seemed like two minutes of letting the chicken out and subsequently taking it back in the jeep to make the tiger salivate to near insanity, the guide responsible for the feeding then tosses the chicken onto the other side and over the roof of the jeep. This would make the tiger leap up, intent to find his live lunch scampering about on the roof, and find no chicken since the poor foul is hanging frantically on the other side by the window of the jeep. At this point, we did not know what was happening on our roof as even the onlookers are dead-silent. Next thing we observed was a paw reaching out in a scooping motion from the roof to the other-side window in the direction of the about-to-be-dead chicken.
Having been satisfied of the tiger's cooperation and just-as-rehearsed reaction, the guide then tugs on the rope to hoist the chicken up to meet its maker in the paws of the hungry tiger. He leaps down from the roof, mind all made up on how to eat his prey, when the chicken is tugged from its feet by the rope which is still in the hands of our guide: a cue for all the spectators to shoot their cameras on to the exhibit.
A couple of seconds later, the guide tugs hard and sends part of the chicken hurrying back towards the jeep. Logically, the tiger would not take this crap from some measly human who is intent on toying with his meal since his momma told him it is impolite to play with one's food! With this in mind, he makes a beeline towards the rest of his meal. By the time he bites off the rest of the foul, down to its feet, I instinctively take close-ups of the tiger all the while being struck by awe on how close we are to this big, feeding, and very hungry mammal. The whole experience is just effin' surreal.
We then offered a moment of silence to give respect to our fallen commrade, er, chicken, whatever, before wiping the splatter it made on most of our body parts.


[mood set by Kraak & Smaak doing One Of These Days]

[End of part trois]

posted by Fritz @ 6:25 PM