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John: I've been working with cats since I
was 9 years old. I started working with domestic
cats. When I was 18 I moved over to working
with lions and then 5 years ago, I started
working with the world's biggest cats, which
are Siberian tigers.
The best thing about working with a big cat
is that is just to go inside with them and
have the relationship that I've got with them.
It's like having a child.
The biggest asset that I have is a lot of
other people were training the cats and I
didn't agree with hitting them with sticks
and using weapons like they use in circuses,
so I wanted to find a way of training these
animals where you don't have to that type
of stuff.
I've named my training method 'love training'
instead of fear-based training. Now with love
training, you don't hit them with a stick
or a weapon like that, you use milk.
The first time they meet you, you put a bottle
of milk in their mouth, so if you carry on
doing that, you're reminding them everyday
of who you are in their lives. No matter how
big they are
When Hellen was small, when she was growing
up, I used to put hair gel in my hair and
go into her quarters where I used to feed
her, so she accosted the milk, the hair gel
with mum, who I was, right? So now what you
see is the tiger lying on top of me, licking
my hair, but what it is actually is she's
grooming her mum.