As one of nature’s top predators, the tiger is not an animal that we would ordinarily think of as being chicken.
However, one tiger, which lives in an English zoo, turned out to be more cowardly than his keepers could ever have imagined.
Tanvir, a two-year-old Bengal tiger, got stuck at the top of a new 5m-high activity tower in his enclosure, after climbing it for the first time.
The branching tower had been designed to provide mental stimulation for Tanvir by testing his ingenuity, but after scaling the exercise structure in just a few seconds, he lost his nerve when it came to coming back down.
Tanvir went on to spend nearly two days at the top of the tower trying to pluck up the courage to attempt a descent.
A spokesperson for the zoo said that Tanvir had taken half an hour to come down from a smaller structure only 1.5m high previously, and that the taller tower had clearly been too much for him.
"Every time he gets to the edge, he looks out, puts a paw over, and thinks, 'no, I'm not doing it!'" said Samantha Cordrey.
In the end Tanvir’s hunger got the better of his fear, and after almost 48 hours he made his way down in order to eat.
And what better way to put such a traumatic ordeal behind you than by tucking in to an entire pig’s head?
It appears that Tanvir is none the worse for his experience, but it is not known if he will find the guts to go back up his exercise tower again.
The whole episode only serves to underline the difficulties faced by zoo staff in creating environments that will stimulate the animals living in enclosed spaces.
"It was made to challenge him but he's a bit of a wimp," said Tanvir’s keeper.
Glossary 词汇表
top predators
最高层的猎食动物 being chicken
没胆量 cowardly
胆小的,懦怯的 activity tower
练习锻炼塔 branching
有分枝的 mental stimulation
脑力锻炼 testing his ingenuity
锻炼它的独创性 scaling
攀登 exercise structure
练习用建筑结构 lost his nerve
失去勇气 pluck up the courage
鼓起勇气 spokesperson
发言人 paw
爪子 got the better of
(某某)战胜了（某某） traumatic ordeal
让人精神受创的经历 tucking in
尽情的吃 the guts
胆量 environments
环境 enclosed spaces
封闭的环境 wimp
懦夫，窝囊废