Did the Black Tiger die?

Read more here:

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/black2.html


There's a thin gap between skepticism and cynicism

I worked on the Beastmaster in the Art Dept. I can clear up a few things, but do not know of the ultimate fate of the Tiger. I am suspicious of stories that say "reportedly"he died form the dye, but do not give references. I didn't work with the animal directly, but I was on the whole shoot and saw how the trainers worked. The trainers told me that the reason they used a Tiger instead of a Jaguar is that Jaguars CAN'T be trained, whereas the Tiger will at least follow SOME direction. In my experience, all of the animals were treated well. I saw them applying the black color on a number of occasions. They used a temporary water-soluble hair spray called "Streaks and Tips" which is pretty safe, the biggest problem is that it washed out quickly so they had to touch up a lot. It wasn't a dye, more like a surface paint. That is why in some scenes you can see the tiger's stripes showing through.
It was a really intense experience working with the tiger, and the bear that was used for one scene. As trained as they were, it was made very clear to us on set that these wee wild animals. We were all given instructions on how to behave when they were around. One time the tiger, who was tied down to a 3' metal stake, got loose by pulling the stake right out of the ground! The entire crew froze in place while the trainers got control of the tiger again. It was a moment I will never forget!