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| No one knows more about tigers than Martin Lacey - Read his story in Circus Mania |
July 29, 2018 is International Tiger Day. Here are 10 tiger facts to roar about.
1 All tigers have a marking on their forehead that resembles the Chinese symbol Wang, which translates as ‘king.’
2 A tiger’s stripes are as unique as a fingerprint.
3 A tiger’s tail averages four-feet in length - about half the total length of its body.
4 A tiger’s teeth can grow up to 3 inches long.
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| Martin Lacey was passing his love and knowledge of tigers to Helyne Edmonds, but their Great British Circus is sadly no more. |
6 A tiger’s night vision is six times greater than a human’s.
7 Tigers don’t purr. They make a chuffing sound through their nostrils.
8 No wild tigers live in Africa. They come from China and Asia.
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| Circus at its roarest A Chipperfield tiger backstage at An Evening with lions and Tigers |
10 A group of tigers is called a streak.
How do you train a tiger? I got the low-down from two of Britain’s last tiger trainers, Martin Lacey and Helyne Edmonds of the Great British Circus. Read the story of the UK’s last circus with tigers and elephants in Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book For Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus.
Or buy direct from Peter Owen Publishers for £10 including postage within the UK (add £2.75 for worldwide orders; sterling only).
Peter Owen Publishers
81 Ridge Road
London N8 9NP
T. 020 8350 1775
"Circus Mania is a brilliant account of a vanishing art form"
- Mail on Sunday
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| Big cats in the big top Thomas Chipperfield and Tsavo the lion. |
Summer 2015 update
When Martin Lacey closed his Great British Circus at the end of 2012, with a ban on wild animals in the circus due to come into force in 2015, it looked as though the last tigers had left the British big top. At the end of 2013, however, Thomas Chipperfield brought his mixed lion and tiger act across the sea from Ireland and is this year travelling an educational show called An Evening With Lions and Tigers. Click here to see my pictures of him in the ring and backstage.
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