If I was a reader seeing this, I would probably be green with jealousy as this story consisted of me having to touch Ozzy, a very furry, eight-month-old, live Siberian tiger.
I love animals, so I had no hesitation about this assignment, although the experience was slightly different to what I expected it to be.
I visited the home of a Brakpan couple, Michael Jamison and Jackie Smit, who are the lucky “parents” of two male tigers.
They’ve had their oldest tiger, Enzo, since 2011, and their newest “little” edition to the family, Ozzy, joined the family in February, this year.
This experience is one I won’t ever forget and definitely encourage any animal-lover to grasp with both their hands if they ever have the chance.
Something in me just lit up when my hands disappeared into the thick, striped fur of this beautiful and exotic animal.
Okay, so admittedly a part of it might have been a rush due to me being scared as hell …
However, I was definitely also happier, and a feeling arose inside of me that somehow made me care less about man-made things, even designer shoes, which is my Kryptonite in life.
This stirred curiosity within me.
These two animals are really just big domestic house cats, lying, eating and being as lazy as a normal house cat would, but, because, it is not something I am used to seeing every day, they had me wondering what more there is to the world I see every day.
I left in awe, with a magnificent, happy feeling overwhelming me.
This, somehow, made sense as, although its effectiveness is still being questioned and it is mainly practiced with domesticated animals and marine creatures,
I gained the knowledge a while back that animal-assisted therapy is, in fact, recognised as a method of healing and creating joy.
I can use big, descriptive words for this, but expressing it in straight-forward slang, it is darn cool how nature has its own source of fixing and enhancing life.
I became slightly more familiar with this idea after a few encounters with Benoni’s very own therapy dog team, Top Dogs, and their president, Angie Thornton.
Still it remains a mystery to me why this experience, in particular, humbled me and made me so eager to explore more of what the world has to offer.
Perhaps it was simply the tiger’s natural purity and majestic beauty that caused a longing inside me to want a little more from life in comparison to the current city life’s chase after money, materialistic things and worldly ideals?
Maybe it is time to slow down and embrace the little things in life that are provided to us freely, right out of Mother Nature’s hand.
I’m not suggesting that we should go and climb over the lion’s fence at the Pretoria Zoo and say “Here I am Nature, cleanse me”, because I’m sure we will be cleansed of our flesh”.
However, I am motivating humanity to step out of our comfort zones and to discover and engage with something new in the world every once in a while.
Having grown up in a family who love to go camping and to visit nature reserves, a love for nature is already embedded within me.
I just needed my memory refreshed, which has been thoroughly done so, all thanks to Ozzy.
I think I will make a point of getting in touch with nature more often, even if not as literally as this. TB
eight-month-old Siberian tiger.
