Title "Swimming together with tigers"
Traditionally, trainers have struggled to build an attachment with the largest of the big cats because the sheer bulk of the animals limits the potential for physical interaction.
But the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, or TIGER, near Miami, claims to have overcome the problem by encouraging both tigers and humans to swim together in a specially adapted pool.
Tigers are known as the best swimmers of all the big cats with modified webbing between their toes to make their feet more like flippers.
Although a number of wildlife parks have encouraged the animals to swim for exercise, the routine has usually consisted of little more than trainers throwing lumps of meat into the water for the tigers to collect.
Bhagavan Antle, director of the centre, said he wanted to give the 200lb, two metre long creatures an opportunity to exercise properly without giving them meat.
He also wanted the public to be able to appreciate the grace and power of the big cats in the water so he built a giant outdoor swimming pool expressly for the purpose.
Filled with 100,00 gallons of water, one side of the entire pool is made of glass, so the public can see the handlers and the animals up close swimming together.
"There are other pictures out there of tigers underwater but people have never been able to get this close to a tiger because it is so dangerous," said Mr Antle.
Mr Antle, who has about 200 animals at the TIGER park including "actor tigers" that have appeared in films like Forest Gump, said the animals love to play in the water.
The hand-reared tigers are introduced to the water a few months after birth and the trainers then give one-on-one tuition to each of the animals while they are in the water.
"At the institute we feel that swimming with the big cats gives them a closer bond between the animal and their human companions," said Mr Antle.
But despite the apparent danger, he said his trainers are never at risk.
"We found that in the water people and tigers were on a more equal footing when the tiger was swimming around on the top.
"As they were floating around we could manipulate them more easily because they don't stand up on their back legs."
With a potential to grow to over 500 lbs and eight feet in length, it is often considered that handlers will only swim with the tigers when they are no more than a year old.
"I personally have had full grown 15 year old adult tigers that I swam with," Mr Antle said. "But that is me and I wouldn't put my staff at the same risk."
