蹲下拍照犯大忌，275 磅大猫扑向摄影师！
文：Alex
美国《国家地理》摄影师 Steve Winter 为一篇有关老虎的报道，前往野生动物保护中心采访拍照。期间他蹲下来替一只虎狮（老虎和的狮子杂交后代）拍照时，这只重 275 磅（约 125 公斤）的大猫突然扑向他，幸好摄影师在工作人员的协助下很快便脱险，亦没有受伤。以下是事发时的经过：
在 Instagram 查看这则贴文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
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Winter 的拍摄对象是一只名叫 Langely 的“虎狮虎”（Tiliger，雄虎和雌性狮虎的杂交后代）。这只 18 个月大的人工繁殖动物因体形太大而不再适合作为“拍照道具”，因而被动物园遗弃。
Winter 在他的 Instagram 上写道：“它住在一所房子里，像宠物一样，牵着皮带走来走去。他还很年轻，很顽皮。当我蹲下来给他拍照时，他向我冲过来。我没有受伤。”
动物园里的动物可能自出生以来，便一直在圈养环境中长大，但事实上，它们的天生本能（野性）仍在。对天性谨慎多疑的大型猫科动物来说，站立的人类似乎是不能随便攻击的对象，但当人蹲下来或背向他的时候，它们便认为这是像猴子的猎物！
至于 Winter，亦不忘借此机会向大众灌输知识：大多数人都不知道，在美国被圈养的老虎，比在野外生存的老虎还要多。游客在参观这些某些动物园时，错误地以为他们正在帮助保护动物。狮子与老虎杂交完全违反自然，其后代会有严重的健康问题（基因缺憾），此举的目的只为吸引游客。
Steve Winter 的报道《The Tiger Next Door》（隔壁的老虎）已刊登在 12 月号的《国家地理》杂志上。大家亦可到《国家地理》网页阅读该篇文章。
来源：PetaPixel
