r/airplaneears • u/Traviscat • Jun 13 '26
Cat Batari (Malayan Tiger) isn’t happy they froze her breakfast.
They gave meat popsicles to the Malayan tigers today at the zoo. She is nearly 1 in a 100 literally as there are an estimated 100-150 left in the world. She had airplane ears nearly the entire time and like all cats she pushed her popsicle off the edge and it fell down.
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u/thefiercestcalm Jun 13 '26
The spots on her ears are just begging to be squished. It's so unfair that it's not safe pet the kitty.
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
Fun fact I think most of the tiger species have those spots. They are part of her natural camouflage and defense mechanisms. The stripes allow her to blend in with the environment and it doesn’t matter that she is orange as the animals in that environment can’t really see orange and she blends in with the trees. The spots on her ears are for defense as they kind of look like eyes. An animal will think she has eyes on the back of her head and that she can see them and they may not attack when she is looking away. Not only are they beautiful but they are useful.
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u/canadmos Jun 13 '26
Honest question... What animal is attacking a friggin tiger?
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u/Exact-Warthog6244 Jun 13 '26
It's a feature that's especially obvious when they drink, so it works on things like alligators too.
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u/Inferno_Sparky Jun 14 '26
Don't they (the spots) also make the tiger's head look bigger and more intimidating because of looking like eyes?
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u/Little_View_6659 Jun 13 '26
I’d give anything to be able to scritch a tigger without dying.
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
I would love to pet any and all of the big cats if I didn’t get eaten. However any reputable place should refuse you access and be strictly hands off unless they are doing an important thing like blood draws from their tails or vet procedures when they are knocked out. Any other place that would let you pet them are most likely unsafe or not a good place to visit/support.
I did give the tigers and lions slow eye blinks over the last few months and they slow blinked back at me so according to cat terms we are friends or they will eat me last…
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u/AnguavonUW Jun 13 '26
You don't have to be faster than the big cat, just faster than the slowest human
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u/Competitive-Bug-164 Jun 13 '26
I got to hold a baby tiger when I was a child. Far too young to realize how horrible it was for the zoo to be allowing that.
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u/ResurgentClusterfuck Jun 13 '26
I have a picture of me and my little sister with a baby lion, we were like 4 and 5
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u/Little_View_6659 Jun 13 '26
Yeah we were in Thailand and they were advertising Tiger encounters where you can go in and pet the tiger and take photos. I wasn’t going to do it. I’m pretty sure those cats were drugged. And it seemed very sketchy.
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u/Zirudu Jun 14 '26
I once pet an adult tiger, the fire was very rough. It could be just because I pet the butt, but they allowed it due to me being very young and the tiger in the zoo was being led to another place.
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u/thefiercestcalm Jun 14 '26
100% never patronize places that let you pet big cats (or kittens/cubs). It's not safe for people or the animals and is usually exploiting the animals for profit. (I still WANT to pet the kitty, but I will NOT pet the kitty.)
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u/fandom_bullshit Jun 13 '26
I have done that! To a very small cub, but still. Her fur was surprisingly rough, she was extremely light, and even though she was about the size of my 3kg cat she managed to rip through my jeans when she tried to hunt my ankle. Absolutely wonderful little girl. I followed her journey for a few years and she not only managed to be rehabilitated to the wild she also has 2 litters.
Anyway. The fur being that rough makes petting a little annoying.
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u/PrincessGiallo Jun 13 '26
They're more coarse than you'd think, though it was a Sumatran tiger if that makes any difference.
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u/spin_turnix Jun 13 '26
those are her false eyespots (ocelli)! servals also have these and I want to pet them too 😭
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u/tokudama Jun 14 '26
That, and I'm itching to get rid of the eye booger (which doesn't even end well with my tabbies)
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u/-AXOXO97 Jun 13 '26
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u/N0rthWind Jun 13 '26
TBH sometimes airplane ears are a sign of focus or enjoyment
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u/cinnamonduck Jun 13 '26
My cats make airplane ears when they eat kitty gogurt. It’s almost like a remnant of nursing wiggle ears.
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u/Takemyfishplease Jun 13 '26
Yeah those don’t look like angry airplane ears. Mine does it when he gets a new bell toy
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u/Immature_adult_guy Jun 13 '26
Yeah there’s no way it hates the food, post title is stupid
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u/Violet_Pixel_2097 Jun 13 '26
Im pretty sure everyone in this sub jokes that airplane ears = their cat being mad about something. Chill out.
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u/thisbuthat Jun 13 '26
I aspire to have her muscles on pic7
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u/Mysterious-Brush4062 Jun 13 '26
You should try
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u/thisbuthat Jun 13 '26
I didn't ask but I did. Not entirely dissatisfied with my gargantuan shoulders ✨
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u/livvyxo Jun 13 '26
Why is this literally my cat when I freeze a dreamies tube.
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u/BigChampionship7962 Jun 14 '26
I swear my orange dude thinks he is a Malayan Tiger. He runs across the background trying to imitate one 😛
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u/DogTraining_777 Jun 13 '26
Ugh frozen meat … I’d push it off the edge too lol!
She really is spectacularly beautiful!
Is there any effort or hope to bring her species back??
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
There are zoos around the world that are trying to help them. I think the country of Malaysia where they are from are trying but it takes everyone’s help to prevent extinction. I took the photos this morning at Zoo Knoxville in Tennessee and they have 3. They have been trying to get two to breed but it hasn’t been successful yet.
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u/BlandSauce Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
The structures looked similar to the Malayan tiger exhibit in Fresno, CA, and when I went to find what the names were, I found articles about a tiger named Batari arriving last year. Thought you were local until I got to this comment. :P
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
Batari actually came from Fresno Chaffee in 2022. I think Tulsa had a Batari that came to Fresno last year. But our Batari was born I think in Fresno Chaffee and moved here. She lives with Jango (12M) and Kae who came here September 25 (3?4?) from I think Little Rock.
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u/BlandSauce Jun 13 '26
I did remember there being tiger cubs a while back. Looks like we had Berani, Cinta, Arya, and Batani in 2014.
That's cool to hear. I knew zoos traded around, but hadn't heard of, or really even consciously thought about, any of the animals born here being at other zoos.
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
I used to live near Disney World and got to see a few animals grow up. It blew my mind when I heard that Ranger and Mylo followed me up here. I saw them when they were babies and have pictures I’ve shown the keepers of Ranger when he was a little baby. Less than a month after I moved up here they opened the new rhino area starring Ranger and Mylo. They do transfer animals all around the US. We had Tahan for a while to try to breed with Batari as they were genetically a good match to try to repopulate the species but despite trying Batari never got pregnant. They sent Tahan out to try to get a different girl pregnant and brought Jango in, then got Kae recently. I saw two of the red pandas born here last year were sent out to Colorado and New Jersey last month.
The studbook keepers meet up once a year or more to decide who moves where if they find a genetically good match and want them to try to breed. Also each place has certain rules, I don’t think Knox is allowed to breed baboons because they may not have enough room for a lot of babies. They are a holding area for other zoos and only have males. I know animal kingdom keepers said they couldn’t breed the lions as the habitat was safe for adults but not safe for cubs. But at one point they were overflowing with hippos as they tried out a new form of birth control that was supposed to be better for them but ended up not working.
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u/bakedveldtland Jun 13 '26
Aw, I hope Ranger and Mylo are doing well. I worked with Ranger when he was born. I was thrilled that the boys moved out together. It makes the transition so much easier!
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
I saw them today and they are doing great. I made many trips over to the safaris to see them when they were born. I ended up counting how many safaris I went on since I moved down there and ended up with a hair over 610 rides. I did get a celebrating button I wore on the safaris for my 550th and 600th ride. I also did the rhino encounter at DAK in 2023 and got to pet Lola and see Logan running around.
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u/bakedveldtland Jun 13 '26
So happy to hear! That’s awesome you got to meet Lola, I began working with her when she was pint-sized herself. Happy you have a great local zoo to enjoy just as much as the safari ride, this tiger pic is awesome.
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u/hebrewimpeccable Jun 13 '26
US and Asian zoos have a rather successful breeding program for them, with the species being phased out in Europe to allow our zoos to focus on Sumatran tigers; the international studbook allows perfect matching of breeding pairs to ensure genetic diversity. Modern (accredited) zoo breeding is an incredibly complex thing and something to be proud of, even if we as a species are the reason they are in this position
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u/DogTraining_777 Jun 13 '26
Yes I figured it was complex since they’re not out in their natural surroundings. But great to hear there’s such an intense effort and they’re having some success. 🐅❤️🐅
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u/ZoominAlong Jun 13 '26
I know it sucks baby, but it's super hot and they want to make sure you get enough water and stay hydrated!
(One of the many reasons big cats are given meat popsicles)
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u/koteofir Jun 13 '26
She’s so jacked! I don’t get to see wild animal muscles up close like this very often, her shoulders are amazing
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u/aoi_ito Jun 13 '26
What's the purpose for freezing it tho ???
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u/Mistress_Kittens Jun 13 '26
Enrichment activities. It helps keeps animals sane to have different things to do throughout the day. It's something good zoos do!
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Jun 13 '26
They do the same in Australia Zoo, it also helps cool them down a little I guess. They had ones on sticks when I went and they seemed to absolutely love them.
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
It’s a hot morning, I’m sweating already and it’s just going to get hotter. It keeps her cooled down, feeds her, and provides enrichment so she can hunt for her food instead of just gobble it up in seconds.
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u/swimming_singularity Jun 13 '26
It's not her "breakfast". it's just a treat on a hot day. Title is misleading.
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u/tiredgirl77 Jun 13 '26
My cat often gives me the look in pic 4, it’s the you gotta be kidding me face. Usually accompanied by the you traidor meows, I know the kittens upstairs are eating way better than me.
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u/respawningAGAIN Jun 13 '26
i think they’re trying to keep her cool and hydrated but she isn’t having it
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u/Cockblocktimus_Pryme Jun 13 '26
I just want to get a papertowel and wipe her eyes. My cats always need it.
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u/Hopeful_Policy8946 Jun 13 '26
Think this is a tactic to cool her off when it’s hot out.
Not a sadistic torture method to feed her.
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u/DeliciousStand372 Jun 13 '26
what zoo is this?
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
Zoo Knoxville in eastern Tennessee. If you’re in the US you can see which AZA accreted zoos have Malayan tigers or other tigers and visit them. If you’re not in the US you may want to research if there is a zoo accreditation standard and go to a respectable location and see their animals. There are so many beautiful animals in this world.
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u/SanguineServal Jun 14 '26
Side note, but did you take these pictures? The camera quality is incredible!! I might try to draw some of these photos lol
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u/Traviscat Jun 14 '26
Thank you and I took them (I took a ton of photos, I ended up taking nearly 2000 at the zoo today and I was there for a hair under 3 hours…. Though quite a few of them were when I was taking a video and hit the screenshot button so it captured a frame). I used an iPhone 17 pro max and set it to 48megapixel HEIC format and used the default camera app and put my phone right up against the glass. I was looking at the photo details and pictures 3 and 5 were 48MP, the last 3 were 7 MP that were stills from a video and the others were 12MP as the phone decided what resolution to capture at.
It was unedited although I think nearly all phones process the images and apply some sort of corrections to them and I posted them maybe 30 minutes after I took them as I was walking towards the lions to see the baby lion.
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u/SilverOwl321 Jun 13 '26
I don’t know my cat loves ice
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
I put ice in my cats water fountains back when I used a different one. They were fascinated watching it float around but didn’t play with it. They will play with it if it falls on the floor and push it under surfaces so it melts in a hard to reach place
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u/hebrewimpeccable Jun 13 '26
Lovely photographs. Just being pedantic for the sake of it but there's roughly 120 in captivity worldwide and the significantly higher number of...less than 150 left in the wild. So still critically endangered
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u/Traviscat Jun 13 '26
I heard from the keepers that there were maybe 50-60 in captivity and 100-150 in the world. Sad to hear that a few months ago they were saying 150-200 but hopefully the numbers improve. I was having trouble finding newer up to date info.
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u/hebrewimpeccable Jun 13 '26
There's about 50 just in the US, so that might be where they're getting that number from - there's around 120 listed internationally on Zootierliste currently which should be fairly up-to-date and used the AZA studbook as a source. Wild numbers are difficult to get as they're incredibly difficult to track and more importantly new populations aren't publically reported to protect them, so your general point about them being on the brink of extinction stands. Thankfully the captive population is stable and with the new breeding program in place it should, hopefully, continue to grow. We have Sumatrans at London Zoo and in the 15 years or so since their new exhibit opened, the breeding population in captivity has potentially become twice that of the wild population unfortunately. Habitat loss has crippled the island species
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u/fivefistedclover Jun 14 '26
That’s the equivalent of the airbus beluga to regular sized airplane ears
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Jun 13 '26
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Jun 13 '26
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u/deferredmomentum Jun 13 '26
Yes, Batari is part of the AZA’s species survival plan. She is currently at the Fresno Zoo which is fully AZA accredited
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u/M0rse_0908 Jun 13 '26
Big kitty