Big cat is just a big kid

Hosting a dinner party with children can be quite a saga. But it's near impossible when your ''child'' is a 70-kilogram, 10-month-old tiger that is prone to climbing on the furniture. ''He's often up on the table,'' said Clive Brookbanks, who has raised Kinwah, a hybrid Bengal tiger, at Mogo Zoo on the NSW south coast.

Kinwah was born with a defective hip joint and has lived with Mr Brookbanks and his partner, Sally Padey - the owner of Mogo Zoo - since he was 10 days old. There was a big possibility his mother would reject him, said Mr Brookbanks, so it was decided that Kinwah should be hand-reared. ''Big cats … will reject [their young] if they are not perfect. In the wild big cats [assume] they're not going to survive … Parents either leave or kill disabled young. It is part of nature,'' he said.



Kinwah spends part of his day in the couple's backyard, where he is fed morning and evening and can play with his best friend Rumble, a 20-month-old German shepherd. The pair run, jump and bounce on each other. They even share chew toys. Kinwah also makes himself at home in the kitchen. But he's been getting a bit cheeky of late, said Mr Brookbanks. Last week he stole a frozen chicken from the fridge.

Mr Brookbanks is well aware that Kinwah's present ''freedom'' cannot continue. The tiger has started spending more time in an enclosure next to the house. ''He is a tiger, and he can become unpredictable,'' said Mr Brookbanks. ''You cannot make these animals a pet. He will definitely go into an enclosure, but it will be a gradual process.''