Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-08
TEACHING LIONSTRICKS
BIG CAT IN THE ARENA IS A WILD
BEAST STILL.
He Yields to the Brain and Will, but
Never Loves His
Master.

Zone of the most noticeable features OF
the taste of the American public for
amusements has been the increasing In
terest shown in recent years in the exhi-
biton of trained animals, especially of ami
mails by nature savage and ferocious,' OBJ
served man who had been in the show
business for many years.
yet, despite the hundreds OF exhibitions
of this sort which have been given. there Is
one point that the sightseeing public mas
entirely failed to comprehend. They thlnK
the lions, tigers, bears and other sharp
toothed and long-clawed creatures which
perform SO many difficult tricks with such
apparent willingness have been tanned. MOI
one has, or. in my opinion, ever Will be-
They have been trained, an entirely diner
ent proposition. This natural mistake on
the part of the spectators is not a matter of
much moment. But if an animal trainer
should make the same mistake his career
would be short.
Trained, Not Tanned.
"A lion or tiger may be taught to do all
sorts Of tricks and apparently to yield
ready obedience to his trainer, but under
meath this superficial training is the real
inherited wild beast nature, which sooner
or later is almost certain to crop out.
Animals, especially the larger and
stronger ones, are not bright. A lion does
not need to trouble himself about strategy
in order to overcome his prey or to protect
himself. His giant muscles and wonderful
agility settle those problems for him. For
this reason the animal mind Is better de-
velOped in weaker creatures, who cannot
trust to their unaided physical qualifica-
tons to attain their prey or prevent them
selves from being the prey of others.
ITO the fon tiger or jaguar the trainer
is mysterious being. He knows that man
powers, and the unknown inspires feeling
of awe in him, exactly as 1t does in savage
or half-civilized men. To this unknown
power the lion yields obedience, but almost
always grudging obedience.
Combined with the feeling that man is a
creature of mysterious powers goes an ig-
norance of the animals own strength. A
tiger would crush his trainers skull with
one blow of his paw, but the tiger does not
appreciate this fact. 1t is the lack of ap-
probation. not any affection for his trainer,
that makes the beast seem so apparently
tractable and obedient
May Turn on Trainer.
"Once let tiger or a lion appreciate that
his trainer is helpless against him, and that
animals value a performer is gone for
ever. He not only will not go through his
accustomed tricks. but if any effort is made
to force him he is almost certain to turn
on his trainer. Any man who expects to
make a success of training wild animals
must devote his whole time to studying the
peculiarities Of his individual charges. He
thus gradually acquires an insight into
their characters and dispositions which may
enable him to tell the moment when one of
them has suddenly awakened to realiza-
ton of his own strength
But animals are cunning, and some
times a trainer does not realize that this
perception Of their prowess has come to
them until it is too late. Then there is
another tragedy.
This ignorance of their physical strength.
as compared with that Of man, is one of
the reasons why animals captured In their
native widS are more likely to make good
performers than those born in captivity
A lion born in civilization associates with
men from the moment he opens his eyes as
a furry, playful cub. Man is not the
strange, awe-inspiring creature to him that
he is to the lion caught when half or fully
grown. This feeling of familiarity tends to
make the cage-born animal a bad subject
for training.
Cage-Born Animals.
'There is another and even more impor-
tant reason why animals born in captivity
are dangerous pupils They are almost GER
tain to realize their own strength and abili-
ty to take care of themselves. A cub, for
instance, is petted until it attains a fair
size. Then comes day when, in trying to
escape from some one who is holding 1t, the
young lion uses its claws. They are by
this time sharp and long enough to inf1ct
unpleasant scratches The cub finds him
self free in an Instant. And in that instant
he has learned the first lesson which tends
to make him useless as a trained animal
that he has claws and teeth, and that the
use of them will enable him to escape from
disagreeable surroundings AS he grows
larger and stronger this lesson is more and
more impressed on his mind When he has
attained his full strength the only place for
him, will be behind the bars of strong
cage. The instances of cage-born animals
of the cat tribe that have been success
fully trained are few.
lone of the mistakes of the general public
which does not recognize that animals are
trained not tanned, is a belief that wild
beasts in many cases have affection for
their keepers and trainers A lion will
often purr and rub himself against the bars
of his cage at the approach of his trainer.
This is because he has become accustomed
to associate the trainer with the good
things of life. The trainer feeds him, he
big cat, and does many other things which
glad to see him.
the approach of his trainer and an hour
later, if the trainer happens to slip and fall
or make some mistake while going through
the performance with his animals that
same lion will be on him in second This
Is even more true of tigers. leopards and
jaguarS, which are more treacherous and
far quicker to anger than lion"