Tiger Breath!

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS

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We got close enough to see the tiger’s breath! Click to enlarge and see for yourself. If I had to come home from vacation, I must admit this was a very good way to do it!!
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The Sumatran Tigers are in a brand new, outdoor, 5.2 acre, multi-level exhibit at The San Diego Safari (Wild Animal) Park. The exhibit houses breeding tigers and is filled with trees, plants, waterfalls, streams and ponds.
There are currently approximately 400 Sumatran Tigers left in the wild.
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There were originally nine sub-species of tigers in our world, but three of these are now extinct due to habitat destruction and poaching. All tiger sub-species are critically endangered.
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Poachers kill Sumatran Tigers for their bones which are used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine.
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The San Diego Zoo and Park supports tiger conservation by breeding tigers to insure genetic diversity through cooperative exchange. It also actively supports The International Rhino Foundation whose mission is to protect Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other mammals in Indonesia, with seven trained patrol units that deactivate snares and traps, and apprehend poachers.
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It is painful to contemplate killing such magnificent creatures, much less wiping out whole sub-species. Hopefully the efforts of the San Diego Zoo to conserve and educate will help to prevent further destruction.
For more info check out: http://www.sandiegozooglobal.org/ICR/purpose
My son volunteered for the non-profit ICR and can attest to the cutting edge work they do daily in species conservation.
Cheers to you from these incredible animals at Tiger Trails~

182 thoughts on “Tiger Breath!”

  10. What a noble animal, it seems so powerful (in fact it does not seem, I guess it IS!!!) Amazing pictures, as usual. Thank you Cindy!
    Frédéric

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  15. It really astounds me that anyone can look at such a magnificent creature and want it dead. I am glad there are so many others, like your son, who look at these beautiful animals and never want to see them die out.

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    1. Yes! I felt this way in Africa, with the grizzlies, how could killing these beautiful wild creatures be considered fun? More to the point, how could you train a child to kill, when most children naturally love animals?? My kids went on a hike with my bother when they were little. They watched him fish and kill the rainbow trout. That was it. We never did that again. They felt bad for the fish.

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  16. These are beautiful! <3 As you may already know, big cats have a special place in my heart (not to mention wonderful photography subjects :-D) so it was even more exciting to see your post today. Thank you for sharing and wish you a lovely weekend!

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  24. Cindy, while I did click the like button it simply doesn’t do those photos justice! They are breathtaking! I am a cat lover and it saddens me to think they are so close to extinction.

    Here kitty kitty… 🙂 x

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  25. Have you an account on National Geographics??? go and get one if you haven’t and post a few of these photos… you will be the editors favourite very very quickly… I’ve been trying but I don’t think he looks at mine…lol

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    1. Your photos rock my friend but thank you! We are in the midst of booking Kruger for 2015!!! We want to go further north and hang out with the big cats and hopefully see a leopard, the only one the big five we missed on our last trip!!!

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      1. I love the northern areas, specially Pafuri area which is known to be the birders paradise of Kruger… as well as the big tuskers, we don’t get up North often enough for my liking… and looking at the websites and facebook, Mopani seems to be a good area for the leopard sightings… I’ve only ever seen the leopard in the southern regions, but good luck on that… can’t wait to see what you capture… If you really want to see the big cats of them all you need to see the Lion of the Kgalagadi or Kalahari Gemsbok Park… just so much bigger than the Kruger Lion and a different colouring, the black mane lions there are tremendous…

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  27. Oh, how very beautiful he is! Thank you for sharing these incredible photographs and for filling us in on the incredible work of the San Diego Zoo.

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  28. Magnificent photos Cindy. It is so sad to think there are people out there that can look at such a beautiful animal then shoot it. That first photo were he is looking straight down the camera lens is mesmerising.

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    1. Yes!! It was a thrill, he seemed to be looking directly at me through the lens you are perceptively correct! Wild animals and birds tend to look at the lens directly, I wonder why? And yes big game hunting reminds me of The Beatles song “Bungalow
      Bill.”
      “Went tiger hunting with his elephant gun. In case of accidents he always brung his mom.”
      A cowardly activity~

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  29. A really good capture. One could almost feel the tiger breath. I thought you might like a little of William Blake in return. You probably already know it, but It’s the thought that counts (1,2,3,4 ……) 🙂

    Tiger, tiger, burning bright
    In the forests of the night,
    What immortal hand or eye
    Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

    In what distant deeps or skies
    Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
    On what wings dare he aspire?
    What the hand dare seize the fire?

    … more at

    http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/tyger.html

    🙂

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    1. One can never resist Blake! My son wanted me to include a quotation. I should have, but am glad you did. Blake certainly saw and recognized the fire in their eyes. Such a classic powerful poem. Thank you Graham~

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  33. We humans are wiping out so many species at an alarming rate; it’s devastating to think there are only a few hundred of these beautiful creatures left in the wild.

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  34. Great images, Cindy. I was thinking of going to the park this weekend. Were you really able to get close or are you using a big lens? Beautiful colors.

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    1. Big time close!!! Plexiglass separtion only in the interior spaces, a couple of feet outside. It is so worth it and best to go before the summer crowds. Try this tip. Go in the late afternoon. Get over to the tigers after 4pm and stay as the park closes at 5pm. The tigers wake up at closing. You can stay very easily until 5:30. A few people were still there when we left at 5:30 talking to the keepers. It is at this time that they will get VERY close to you. Apparently cost $14 million to build with $7 million paid by the director of Godzilla……

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      1. Well, Cindy, hunting is a really an undertaking. I just do my best. Sometime it is disturbing, so, I slow done and look at photos or poems until I am okay with me. Love your pictures! We can do our best. I like ‘The Four Agreements’ and now there is a fifth. That book is a project almost complete. The cellular pages are no where near complete and there is a huge problem in that area because some of it deals with they bring some of the future here. I plug away. I hope you have a lovely weekend…. love the pictures and your captions and wording!
        Blessings of love we share in this light of our divine.
        ~ Eric

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    1. It is hard to contemplate a world without polar bears, tigers, rhinos…. I wonder what is wrong with our species? Other species don’t kill endlessly for fun.

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    1. So many!!Rhinos, elephants, bears……It’s depressing. All cultures, especially ours, need to change and adapt in respect of our declining planet. Where will they get their medicine if they kill all the tigers?

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  42. I WANT ONE!! Just kidding, but they are so gorgeous. (I still want one , but I know I can’t have one) Not sure which one I’m going to pin, but pin I will!
    Cindy, thank you for these, and all of your beautiful pictures. _Resa

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    1. I wonder if it would be possible to take a bad pic of a tiger. Does give me pause though, I often reject pics because they “are bad shots of me.” How come a tiger never has this issue???? My daughter is this way too darn it!! Laughing……maybe it’s not the camera….ya think???? 😛

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  47. Reblogged this on Spirit In Action and commented:
    Thank you for posting this Cindy! It boggles the mind to think that humans have destroyed so much of our beautiful world and so many species are already gone. I love the way you capture and share so much of the wild beings personality in your photos.

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  49. What an absolutely gorgeous animal. Tigers are my all time favorites of the big cats, Cindy, and your photos here are fantastic. When will you be home again?
    whe

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      1. Working on it this whole weekend. Pulling overgrown shrubs out, planting new (different) stuff, relocating some plantings, and adding a couple of new planting beds – not all this weekend, but those are the short range priorities in the program. Will post some soon. Hugs.

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  51. Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
    The fact is that we do need to conserve animals in any environment possible to ensure their existence. When you see animals in spacious and natural settings where they can roam and interact with others then it has my vote. It would of course be wonderful if they could remain in their natural environment but our education of those who are tearing that apart is too slow to be effective. These beautiful animals look content and very healthy. A great project.

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    1. You stated this so thoughfully and well, and expressed my thoughts exactly. The park has the only remaining rhino of it’s sub-species on the planet. They recognizied the dangers of extinction decades ago and started working to prevent it. Thank you so much for your comment.

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  56. Such beautiful and magnificent creatures. I knew it was happening but I was completely taken aback when I recently read statistics on how many creatures are becoming extinct on a daily basis. I know in my heart that God (or whomever one believes in) will hold man (the supposed intelligent ones) accountable. Sorry for my rant but it just breaks my heart to see what people are doing. Your photographs are amazing and thank goodness we have these organizations working an uphill battle–but still working.

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    1. I know in my heart exactly what you do and feel precisely the same. Almost like we were given a test with this earth and it’s creatures and we have failed this test miserably. Each of us does what we can, but it seems so little in the face of so much wastage. Some humans think they can destroy with no repurcussions……I am so glad there are people like you, lots of us actually. We need to start to ROAR!!

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  67. OM ! Cindy dear ! What a fabulous series of tiger portraits and gorgeous close ups ! You have so efectively and dynamically captured this powerful animal ! Love and kisses , Doda 🙂 xoxoxo

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  72. Chinese medicine has a lot to answer for in the animal world these days! But I know the current great extinctions are not that simply explained. You captured this magnificent creature so perfectly!

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  74. These photographs are so professional and up close and personal, too! I like that you were able to capture the breath of a tiger, Cindy! Outstanding and you should win awards with these! Smiles, Robin

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  75. I worried about the San Diego Safari when I heard about the fire in SD. Thank you so much for providing the link. Glorious post, Cindy!

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  77. I just donated a small amount to the San Diego Safari Park in honor of your effort, but they won’t let outsiders to be a member 🙁

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    1. Oh how lovely of you Amy and it is a good cauuse. Let me check into this. I believe you are entitled to be a member. I will get back to you. As a member you get free passes all year, get invited to behind the scenes events, get passes for friends and get the monthly newsletter with great photos!

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      1. If that is their policy, it’s fine with me. For so much they do for nature, I’m perfectly happy to buy the tickets for both of us when I come to visit you 🙂

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      2. Not happening girlfriend. Let’s do this, wait for summer to pass and the crowds to leave. Fall is nice there. Then you and yours visit the WAP on our guest passes with us. It is a wonderful place with wonderful creatures and plants, and only better with you and yours along! I can’t wait to see your photos and read your post about it, much less see the place through your amazing eyes.
        😛

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