Potentially Deadly High-Wire Act

After an elephant who was being used in a Shrine-sponsored circus killed an animal groom in Pennsylvania recently, people asked how such a thing could happen. Circus spokespeople claimed that the elephant had been spooked by a live electrical wire.

Hmm. The same question arose when Tilly, an orca living in a cramped tank at SeaWorld, attacked and killed a trainer. SeaWorld said all sorts of things, such as that maybe Tilly was just playing! Now, check out this mind-boggling video from China, and it's abundantly clear: To captive animals, some humans are hated, and some are just food. As for the hated, who can blame the animals? Chains, sharp metal bullhooks, whips, small cages, loss of freedom—it's a dangerous mix.

We watched this frightened toddler walk a tightrope over a pit filled with stressed-out tigers and steeled ourselves for the worst.

Captivity doesn't make a wild animal's natural instincts disappear. Is it any surprise, then, when animals who have been beaten, battered, and broken respond accordingly?

Via Perez Hilton

Written by Jennifer O'Connor