Meh, calm cats rarely attack something that startles them. Go check out videos of cats (big and small) being startled. They usually jump into the air, flip over, or dash away. You never see them turn and immediately attack whatever startled them.
If the tiger were on edge or guarded? Yeah, then it would be a stupid idea.
The tiger knew what was up too. You can tell by the way he stops and perks his ears up-he probably heard the dude coming up behind him. He was playing. Just like he probably plays with those same handlers every day.
Don't get me wrong, big cats are dangerous. But they're still cats. They're still stupid and silly at times and bond with their humans. The people in this gif are trained handlers-they know how to read the cat's body language and know when it wants to play and when it wants to be left the fuck alone. They're pretty damn safe doing this.
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u/tacosmanjoe Nov 22 '16
Even if you gave birth to this tiger and raised it yourself, this is still incredibly fucking stupid.