Tiger Wakes Up Tiger Friend from Nap, Gets What He Deserves

It’s pretty safe to say that tigers, on the whole, are misunderstood animals. It isn’t their fault. They didn’t have a “The Tiger King” movie, they didn’t have a famous Cecil the Lion type martyr for their paws’ cause. The only representative that tigers have had in recent memory is Tony the Tiger, whose lies are probably why I’m going to wind up with diabetes. That’s not grrrrrrrreat, Tony.

But a tiger at the Dublin Zoo is changing all of that by showing that our furry feline friends aren’t much different from us or any other creature in the animal kingdom. We all enjoy a good midday nap when we can get one. But more importantly, we all HATE being woken up unnecessarily.

The action was captured from a safe distance, presumably by a parent who wanted to catch the moment of their adorable daughter seeing the majestic animals up close. Little did they know that the more mischievous of the two tigers was about to make a life-long enemy. The sleeping giant was not having any of it, immediately shaming his compatriot to the other side of the watering hole with a terrifying series of roars and scornful stares.

The instigator retreated immediately and tried to pretend like none of it happened, which is a tell-tale sign in all of nature that you know you did something wrong and you’re overwhelmed with embarrassment and guilt. While it is unfortunate that the baby human was terrified and probably will never love cats as a result, devastating acts of aggression require a proportional response and sometimes collateral damage cannot be avoided.

We here at Your Daily Dish try our hardest to remain impartial on stories with different perspectives, but in this case, I have no problem taking the side of the sleeping tiger. Don’t wake someone up just because you’re bored. Don’t do it to your significant other, don’t do it to your roommates, don’t do it ever. Don’t do it even if you’re a tiger. You’re an animal, not a monster.

The video of the Dublin tigers was posted on Storyful and quickly went viral with over 42,000 views. The popularity of the story and the footage has also helped to bring attention to some truly encouraging news.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the tiger population is on the rise globally for the first time in 100 years. The most recent numbers put the tiger population at 3,890—up from the estimated 3,200 in 2010. While tigers are still classified as endangered, conservationists are encouraged that the increased numbers mean that their efforts have a real shot at saving one of the world’s most beautiful creatures.