Volume 3, No. 10. May 23, 2003
Testimonial tigers
One of the special pieces of the Bronx Zoo’s new Tiger Mountain exhibit
(see New Arrival in this issue) is a film featuring clips and close-ups of tigers
and testimonials on the importance of tigers from such luminaries as actors
Lorraine Bracco, Glenn Close and Jerry Orbach, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and various Bronx Zoo staff and guests.
The tigers featured in the film, however, do not belong to the Bronx. That footage
was shot in Caribbean Gardens: The Zoo in Naples, Florida, using one of that
zoo’s trained Bengal tigers.
Because the Bronx Zoo needed close-ups with a seamless background, the filmmakers
could not use typical tigers found in the wild or in zoos. “The standard
tiger you’d find in a zoo would think the (background) is a nice behavioral
enrichment toy,” said Tim Tetzlaff, director of education for Caribbean
Gardens: The Zoo in Naples. “They needed a cat that could be in front of
a seamless background without turning it into a shredded background.” However,
choosing a Hollywood-type trained tiger brings risks of another sort. “You
wouldn’t want to open this big Tiger Mountain exhibit and then find out
the video was shot under circumstances you wouldn’t be proud of,”
Tetzlaff said.
Caribbean Gardens is an American Zoo and Aquarium Association-accredited zoo,
and its tigers are trained for educational demonstrations at the zoo. Here was
a manageable tiger in a reputable institution. The zoo erected a seamless background
in its Safari Canyon and Vice President David Tetzlaff walked the tigers through
the canyon every day for several weeks before the shoot to get them used to
the background. Archipelago Films arrived March 20 for a night time shooting.
This is not the first time Caribbean Gardens’ animals have appeared in
other entity’s films. “People who know us and know how we work with
our animals, if they have a need we’ll do our best to accommodate that,”
Tim Tetzlaff said. “We’re not a Hollywood alternative, it’s not
a business we’re seeking. But if they need help and it’s a message
we can get behind, we’ll help out.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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