Life in the Coliseum

A day at Taman Safari ALWAYS results in a multitude of ridiculous stories of unsafe conditions and hilarious borderline life-threatening mishaps. Our trip on Monday was no exception and the list of unheard-ofs was unending! The most ridiculous event, though, one deserving of its own blog post was the Lion & Tiger Show.
The first thing that needs to be made known is that we never saw a single lion at this show. This was a good thing though, because who knows what would’ve happened had there been. A second important piece of information is that no one died during the performance. Now, you will probably be able to appreciate the details of this show a lot more than we did knowing that information. We did not have that confidence prior to the show and spent the entire show through half-closed eyes and lots of prayer that that would be the result.
We were eager about watching the show, so we made sure to get there with enough time to get good seats. We managed to get center seats, just two rows up… which turned out to be a blessing and a curse. We quickly noted that the tiger ring was enclosed with what we thought was a sturdy metal chain link fence, and within two minutes of the show starting, we found that to be false.
The preliminary show began as two tigers and one trainer entered the ring. It was 10 minutes before the start time and all of the announcing was done in Indonesian, so we’re not sure if this was actually a planned part of the show or not... but then again, we weren’t sure if any of it was planned. The tigers strolled around and marked their territory by peeing everywhere and then it quickly became clear that Tiger Training Best Practices weren’t used at this zoo when we saw the trainer slap the tigers on the face and pull on their tails. (Molly later commented that those were probably the ONLY two rules taught at Tiger Training 101… only further confirming that neither the tigers nor trainers had ever gone through training!!) Just three minutes in, we decided this was going to be the most interesting and terrifying show of the day when the two tigers growled and attacked each other and then one of them suddenly lunged at the trainer, putting his paws on his shoulders and his open mouth directly in front of his face. With a huge smile on his face, the trainer pushed the tiger down with all his might, continued slapping him in the face, and then pushed both tigers out of the arena. We all held our breath until the trainer was free of the tiger, but little did we know, that would be just the first of many similar experiences to happen over the next 25 minutes!
After a brief introduction (all in Indonesian so we didn’t understand anything!), the real show began when three tigers ran back out followed by 2 guy trainers and 1 girl trainer. Before we could even get through the introductions of the tigers, one of the tigers was performing the trick that was meant to be the grand finale. He went lumbering up a 30-foot wooden pole to retrieve a half-pound of raw red meat that had been hung since prior to the preliminary show. As he ran up, the trainer did what would naturally be anyone’s first instinct when they see a tiger running up a pole to ruin the tiger show, and grabbed the tiger’s tail to try and pull it down. He was unsuccessful and the tiger polished off the meat in one bite. Thankfully, the tiger then decided to climb back down the pole instead of jumping over the fence into the crowd, which he easily could have done because it was only a 20 foot fence. The response from the crowd was not great since it was clear this was meant to be the final act and we were all curious as to what would happen next. I think the trainers were also wondering the same thing.
Our theory is that because there were no lions and the grand finale happened within the first five minutes, they had to resort to a lot of creativity which explains much of what ensued. For the next 10 minutes, we saw some real tricks like getting the tigers to stand on their hind legs to drink out of a baby bottle, jumping from one platform to another, shaking hands with the trainer, and jumping through a metal semi-circle that was covered in leaves.
The time for the tricks of the tiger was quickly over and then it was time for the tricks of the trainers. The only thing separating the trainers from death during these next tricks was the tranquilizers given to the tigers before the show (however small they were) and the small buckets of raw meat attached to the trainers’ hips. As soon as we noticed that the announcer was behind a brick wall at the very top of the crowd with only a tiny hole for him to see out of, we got a little nervous. Then, when we saw the trainers all shaking their heads and waving their hands in a negative motion, we realized no good was about to happen. The announcer continued urging on the crowd and the crowd (well, mostly just dad’s co-worker, Wan, who was accompanying us with his family to the zoo) kept urging on the trainers to do whatever trick it was that the trainers did not want to do. Giving in to peer pressure, we suddenly saw the two male trainers try to pick up one of the tigers. They got him about two inches off the ground and then put him down smiling.
The announcer wasn’t impressed, so again got the crowd/Wan chanting that they wanted more. Begrudgingly, the trainers pulled two platforms about two feet apart and beckoned a tiger on top of them, front feet on one platform, back feet on the other. Then, before we knew it, the shorter man was attempting to squat the tiger! One of his legs got tangled up in one of the platforms and, needless to say, he went down pretty quick, tiger and all. When he stood up, he was holding his ankle and looking angrily at the tiger, ready to hit it for being so…. Heavy? (The only real part of the introduction that we did understand was when they were explaining that each tiger weighs approximately 180 kg and is a very fierce animal. Since this was broadcast over the loudspeaker while the trainers were already in the ring, we know that the trainers were fully aware of this fact!) Tiger 1, Man 0.
After this attempt, fail, and broken ankle, it only made sense that the other male trainer should try the same thing. Try number one for trainer 2: leg got stuck, man goes down, tiger goes flying. Tiger 2, Man 0. Try number two: man gets a few steps away from platform and collapses under weight of tiger, with tiger landing on top of him. Tiger 3, Man 0. Try number three (why they were STILL trying, we are all unsure!): success... sort of… as successful as you can be when doing this trick. I mean, can having a tiger on your shoulders ever really end well? But, he did get the tiger on his shoulders for a good 20 seconds, did a few spins and then bent down and let the tiger slide/jump off his neck in a very ungraceful way. Tiger 3, Man ½.
We thought the show would quickly come to an end after these “tricks” (due to the fact that all the trainers were now limping and holding their shoulders), but little we know it was only half over. Before the next trick could start, we suddenly heard a burst of commotion coming from the left side of the cage. Turns outs, when you gotta go, you gotta go and this tiger had no shame. Apparently the chicken-wire fence was not a sufficient barrier between the steady stream of urine coming from the tiger and the audience members standing on the other side. Despite the trainer’s attempts at pulling the tiger away mid-pee, the tiger wanted to finish his business and soaked a few people pretty good in the process.
When that unplanned event was over, the trainers thought they had a few more tricks in them, but it seemed the tigers had had enough. We’re not sure why a trick would be to have a tiger stand and put its paws on your shoulder, but that was what they chose to do, and hopefully they’ll nix it from their routine quickly. Before we could blink an eye, the trick had turned into mauling #2 of the day and the trainer had his back against a very bendy chicken wire fence with a tiger pushing him further backwards. After getting scratched on the shoulder, he was able to throw some meat on the ground and get the tiger off of him. He was lucky he got him off when he did because his attention was quickly drawn to his partner sitting stuck between the edge of the cement stage and the fence batting away a hungry tiger. (Leah noted that on a list of top 5 things you would never want to happen to you while in a tiger cage, losing all mobility is at the top of the list. We’re pretty sure they also encountered #2-5, we just lost track with everything that happened!) After as many attempts as it took to finally lift a tiger, he finally got his friend out of the gutter and everyone cheered. At this point, mom checked the schedule to make sure we were watching the lion and tiger show and not the three stooges show because it was so ridiculous.
We thought they had finally seen their lives flash before their eyes enough times that the show was over, but of course there had to be one more “trick”. Instead of just sending his tiger out like the other two trainers did, one trainer decided it would be cooler to ride it out of the arena. Had the tiger sauntered out majestically as planned, it would have looked cool. Instead, it decided to take off full speed. Just in the nick of time, before the tiger ran into the tunnel, the trainer jumped/fell off, taking his partner down with him. His partner was not happy because now he had a hurt head to add to his hurt shoulder, back, ankle and knee.
I don’t think we’ve ever cheered so loud for a show to be over. Nor have we been able to clarify enough times that tigers and comedy should never be part of the same show! We’ve thought long and hard trying to figure out what these trainers’ resumes must look like. Molly thinks an interview would go something like this:
Taman Safari: Do you have an IQ?
Trainer: No.
Taman Safari: Are you strong enough to lift a tiger?
Trainer: No.
Taman Safari: Are you willing to try?
Trainer: Yes.
Taman Safari: You’re hired.

Sadly, we didn’t get the show on video, but hopefully through our description and these pictures you can experience the enjoyment of the show without having to grimace and hold your breath every other second.