Tiger and Piglets

Acrylic on panel

12″ x 12″

A story drifts through the ether of the internet: a mother tiger loses her litter and is too depressed to eat. In an attempt to console her, zookeepers dress little piglets in little tiger coats for her to care for. Her motherly instinct satiated, all is well.

While the photos that accompany the tale are real, they document a different story. In an attempt to make their tigers more docile, a zoo in Thailand swapped the young from a tigress and a sow. The theory was that exposure to the domesticated behavior of the pigs would mollify the wildness of the cats. The experiment became a sensational tourist attraction–pigs, often in orange striped coats–and tigers living together. The story sadly devolves into many horrific cliches of animal abuse from circus acts, poor living conditions, unethical breeding programs, and exotic animal trafficking.

Humans have used animals to tell stories since time immemorial. From tricksters, to messengers, to signs of fertility or bad omens, we have fashioned animals as characters to help us better understand ourselves and the world around us. But that world has changed dramatically. Urbanization and technology have severed the immediate connection we perceived to have to the natural world. Yet, as the depressed tiger and frocked piglets show, we still crave an emotional connection to these characters.

Stories are a powerful tool for imagining other ways of being. What can animals tell us about ourselves today, or, more importantly, what stories do we need to hear?