Not like I’m some animal rights extremist who believes people should starve before they eat meat, but did they really have to pump the tiger full of bullets like she was a character in a Quentin Tarantino film? Last I was aware of, and I’m pretty sure, Siberian tigers are endangered animals…and isn’t that exactly why they’re kept in captivity? I feel bad for the boy that died and the two who were mauled–but I also feel quite awful for the wild animal that was shot to death, considering she was only doing what wild animals do. I also happen to think that considering this was the first incident of its kind, the boys might have been getting a little too “playful” with the oversized feline before it all went down. That doesn’t excuse the tragedy, of course…but still. We should all remember that behind bars wild animals remain wild animals, and big cats are exactly that. I once had a small cat who weighed about four pounds, 19 1/2 years old, who could still jump six feet with little trouble when she really wanted to. So who’s to say a big cat couldn’t jump 12 feet when she really wanted to? It’s all pretty disturbing. Let’s just hope we can make it a point to make wild animal habitats more secure and do more to keep onlookers from provoking exotic beasts.