Rusty Saber: Walks on wild side demonstrate species superiority

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

Human beings and wild animals can co-exist as long as there is a degree of separation between them. Certain unalterable truths mandate the separation. For the good of all, these unalterable truths must be acknowledged.

An unalterable truth: You Can Take the Wild Animal Out of the Wild, But You Cant Always Take the Wild Out of the Animal. A case in point is the recent mauling by a tiger of Roy Horn, half of the pair of famed illusionists Siegfried and Roy, a.k.a., Roy Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher.

No one seems to know why the magnificent animal attacked and nearly killed Roy during the duos act in Las Vegas. Such a tragedy was unthinkable. Both were expert animal trainers who had been with the tiger all its life. They had performed the same act hundreds of times without incident. The near fatal attack came suddenly.

I believe I know what happened. An unalterable truth happened. Regardless of how well trained the tiger was, and how much animal and performers loved each other, the tiger is a WILD animal. Something happened inside its head that triggered a wild instinctive impulse.

For whatever reason, the sudden realization came that the man was weaker, slower and smaller; the tiger also had bigger and sharper teeth. A primal voice whispered one word in the ear of the tiger: Lunch! Seizing Roy by the neck, the tiger dragged him off stage, which is what a tiger would do with lunch in the jungle.

Thankfully, the tiger didnt go into the audience in search of lunch.

As I understand the art and science of wild animal training, the key is for the human to gently but firmly let the critter know he is in control. For an instant, the tiger lost track of who was in charge.

Roy Horns fate should be taken into account by anyone having or craving a wild animal for a pet, including boa and python fanciers. Snake owners may think their pets are being affectionate when they hug their necks. The unalterable truth: Snakes Dont Hug, They Constrict.

When hugging, snakes are practicing up in anticipation of the day when they are big enough to constrict make that crush their loved ones and swallow them. In the meantime, snakes may fancy smaller targets to hug, such as dogs, cats or children.

Another unalterable truth: Wild Animals Living in the Wild are Definitely Wild. If you doubt this truth, ask Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard.

Treadwell co-authored the book, Among Grizzles: Living With Wild Bears in Alaska. And unfortunately, you cant ask them for confirmation of the wildness of wild animals because they were killed by a brown bear at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Apparently the bear wasnt happy about having humans as neighbors.

Troopers and park rangers found the bodies when they came looking for the couple after they failed to meet the pilot scheduled to fly them back to California.

The bear was sitting on the remains, guarding his lunch with such gusto that he had to be shot when he charged the officers. A video camera was found at the scene that contained three hours of close-ups of, what else, bears.

One shot shows a very uncomfortable Ms. Huguenard as bears came close to her. Obviously, she had good reasons to be uncomfortable. Treadwell was wearing a wireless microphone that apparently activated during the struggle.

Screams from the bear and the victims were heard. The couples last words were recorded. These unfortunate folks came face to face with a variation of an unalterable truth known by untalented bullfighters everywhere: Mess With the Bull and You Get the Horn!