The Eye of the Tiger

The Eye of the Tiger

I apologise for the stupid title but couldn’t think of any better description. Tigers are one of my favourite animals and they always amaze me whenever I get a chance to see them. This photo was taken through thick glass but the Tiger still managed to send chills down my spine. Just seconds after this photo was taken I was looking into its eyes and we were both fixated on each other. He then got up and showed his teeth and came closer to the window, it gave me quite a fright!

I also learnt during this visit that the Sumatran Tiger is critically endangered, Indonesia has 65 captive Sumatran tigers living in zoos, 85 in European zoos and 20 in Australian zoos. There are 70 tigers managed by North American zoos of which the Honolulu Zoo has three. The entire captive population is descended from 37 wild-caught founders.

Taken at the Melbourne Zoo in Parkville, Melbourne, Australia with my Canon 300D and a Canon 75-300mm lens. I added a bit of contrast and clarity as I was getting really flat colours shooting through the glass, it was also a very overcast winter’s day. Also converted to HDR in Photomatix to bring out more detail and also fixed up some of the background in Photoshop.

The image as a medium sized mounted print with a black border and artist’s details:

The Eye of the Tiger belongs to the following groups:

Complex Simplicity of Art, Animal Kingdom, Big Cats, Endangered Species, Exotic Mammals, For the Love of Cats , 1 image a day , PixElations - The Art of Photoshop, Safe Haven, The Eyes Have It and Zoophoria (2 per day, approval required) Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters