usi
On Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Bengal tigers make a splash at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona
These incredible pictures show fearsome 47-stone tigers splashing around with their keepers
As a man stands neck-deep in water a huge Bengal tiger leaps into the air above him with claws outstretched and jaws open
Luckily for this keeper he has nothing to fear as the only thing on the tiger's mind is catching his favourite toy
The incredible photos were taken at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park, in Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, as part of the tiger pool play time
For 30 minutes every day a pair of the zoo's six Bengal and Siberian tigers take to the 50 foot pool for fun and games
Aston Powell, from Out Of Africa, said the aim of playing with the tigers in this way was to enrich their lives
"To be honest if a 47 stone tiger doesn't want to play like this, there's not much we could do to make him..."
"Tiger Splash began in 1993 when the park purchased a SiberianTiger cub, Genesis, from a breeder in Florida..."
ash at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Arizona
"Genesis had several surgeries because of knee deformity, due to inbreeding, to get the problem corrected as much as possible..."
"Dean and Prayeri Harrison, the park founders and owners, never considered sending him back to the breeder because they believed he would most likely be put to sleep because of his problems..."
"Genesis didn't like the pool at all so they decided to offer it to the other cats to see their reaction. That's how Tiger Splash started..."
"It would not be our way to instruct others to care for their animals in the same way we do anymore than for them to tell us what we do is incorrect. It is about being one with the tiger and looking from the animals point of view, not our own."
There are estimated to be 2,100 wild Bengal tigers in the wild today in their native India and Bangladesh
As a sub-species the Bengal tiger is considered to be one of the largest of the breed, males can measure three metres from head to tail
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