Woman Keeps Two Tigers In Her Backyard – And They’re As Loving And Playful As Kittens!
While most people spend their golden years relaxing in their garden Janice Haley chooses to hand feed the two man-eating tigers she keeps in hers. Saber -- a 600 pound white Bengal male and Janda -- a 400 pound orange Bengal female live in a cage at the back of Janice's unassuming suburban home. Each day Janice, 57 hand feeds the gentle giants and Saber -- the baby of the pair - can't get off to sleep without suckling on her finger. She happened upon her extraordinary life around 20 years ago when she quit her job as an admin assistant to spend more time working outdoors.
After spotting an ad for a tiger training course in her local paper she applied and two years later arrived home with Chuffer the tiger cub. She was immediately BITTEN by the tiger bug and in 2002 bought Janda -- who is now 12 -- to live with Chuffer. After Chuffer's death in 2007 little Saber -- who was only two weeks old at the time -- was introduced to the enclosure -- much to the annoyance of Janda. Tigers are fearsome jungle cats that are near-universal symbols of ferocity, strength and courage, but 57-year-old Janice Haley of Orlando, Florida has a different perspective on the matter. To her, they’re also cuddly kitties. When you see her play with her two pets, 400-pound Bengal tiger Janda and 600-pound white Bengal tiger Saber, you’ll understand why – they’re about as loving and playful as their tiny domesticated cousins.
“As far as they’re concerned, I am mommy,” explains Haley. “They rub me in the face, they’ll let me kiss them on the nose.” The two tigers live in an enclosure in her backyard and are fed by hand 3 times a day.
It all began in 1995, when Haley decided to quit her boring desk job and, at her husband’s advice, begin working with exotic animals. She has had quite a few different big cats since then, and plenty of volunteers to help take care of them and play with them as well.
“People who consider it cruel to keep them in captivity have a point, to a point,” conceded Haley. “It is not the ideal place for a tiger to be, in a cage. But at this point, in the wild, there isn’t a lot hope out there for them anymore, and if there aren’t some of them left in cages there aren’t going to be any left at all in a couple of years from now… They are provided for and loved here. In my opinion, I wouldn’t mind being a tiger in my backyard.”
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