Friday, August 7, 2009

The Cubs

During four years in my teens, I took care of tiger cubs, as I told you in my blog The eye of the tiger. I worked in Bellewaerde, an amusement park in Ieper, Belgium. I did several jobs, until I got the job I had longed for: taking care of the tiger cubs.. The cubs were taken away from their mother from the day they were born. We had to raise them by hand and feed them bottles of formula. They were super gorgeous! I raised so many of them, during those 4 years. Some years I had 11 cubs at the same time, other years I had about 7. Each one of them had a name (I could pick their names) and all of them had pacifiers. I had my favorite cubs: Miro, Tiba and Fuji. They were the only cubs that stayed in the park for longer than 6 months. And there's this bond, when you take care of animals. I still think of them , once in a while. Most of the time, the cubs were sold to a circus in Durbuy, Belgium. I didn't like the idea of it, but that's just the way it was. There were enough tigers in the park and they couldn't keep them all. I have no idea what the price of a cub was, but I suppose they weren't cheap?
The cubs I took care of, were Bengal tigers, you know, the orange ones with black stripes and some white in between. Sometimes I watch animal shows on TV and once in a while, we see little Bengals. It takes me back in time..
I hear there haven't been any tiger cubs since I left the park. There have been lion cubs, but no tiger cubs. Or at least, they never survived. It is a commitment after all, to feed them that often, even at night. Who is willing to do this job for free?? I know I was.. It was a unique job, I must say.

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