275 Pound ‘Liger’ Jumps On Unsuspecting Nat-Geo Photographer

Photographer Steve Winter was taking pictures of Langely, a lion-tiger mix living in captivity in Oklahoma, when the handlers lost control of the big cat

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Jumped by a 275-pound "ti-liger” on assignment in Oklahoma—working on “The Tiger Next Door," a story on captive tigers in the US for the December National Geographic Magazine. See the link in my bio for the full story in the Dec issue of @natgeo.🎬 Video by Nick Ruggia @rujigga. Langely, an 18 month-old lion-tiger mix was discarded after he grew too big and dangerous for cub-petting and photo ops at Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. He was adopted by Safari Sanctuary in Broken Arrow, OK, where he's lived inside a house and is walked around the property on a leash like a pet. He was still young and playful—and charged me when I was squatting to photograph him. I was unhurt. Safari Sanctuary is no longer open to the public. My experiences shooting this story raised many questions. Most people don’t know that there are more tigers living in captivity in the United States than still survive in the wild; visitors are wrongly led to believe they’re helping conservation when they visit these attractions. Tigers that are crossed with lions have very serious health problems; these two species do not interbreed in nature and this is done strictly to attract tourists. There are also public safety issues: there is no national law on big cat ownership and Oklahoma has no state law on owning big cats. The Big Cat Public Safety Act, currently in the US Senate and the House, would better protect both animals and the public. #tiger @natgeo

A post shared by Steve Winter (@stevewinterphoto) on Dec 10, 2019 at 11:04am PST