Tigers and Big Cats

Other Interests

My interest towards big cats (and particularly tigers) manifested itself from my early childhood years, and has stayed with me all my life. During my school years, I was ardently collecting books and photos of tigers and other big cats, was visiting zoo daily for years, and wanted to become a zoologist, geneticist, geographer, or a biologist. When my research of the origins of the choral singing brought me eventually to the human-big cat relationship, I enthusiastically embraced this line or research.

My interactions with the Siberian tiger “Mars” at Tbilisi zoo in the mid 1970s were particularly influential for me. That’s why the book on the human-big cat relationship is dedicated to the memory of Mars.

You can read the complete book Tigers, Lions and Humans: History of Rivalry, Conflict, Reverence and love.

Also here you can read my unpublished memoir "The story of Mars, the Siberian Tiger" about my unusual six-year-long (1974 – 1980) friendship with a Siberian tiger at Tbilisi Zoo.