Detroit — When Andy Didorosi was asked if he’d like to help at a photo shoot where there would be models, he jumped at the chance.
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It turns out they weren’t human models.
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Instead it was a tiger, two wolves and a bobcat being used in an authorized shoot at the old Packard Plant by United Kingdom-based photographer David Yarrow, according to Kari Smith, director of development at the Packard Plant.
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But the animals were not part of the approved deal, Smith said.
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“The shoot was authorized.
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The animals were not authorized,” Smith said.
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“They had two days, waivers and fees paid for a basic photo shoot.
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Nothing else.
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There was no mention of any animals on site.”

The illicit menagerie was discovered on the south side of the property around 9 a.m. Monday by security guards checking the group for identification and permits to shoot, Smith said.
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One member of the shooting crew was Detroit Bus Co. president Andy Didorosi, whose office overlooks the plant.
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“A friend was asked to help with the shoot, but the tiger was stuck on a staircase and didn’t want to move,” Didorosi said.
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“So my friend decided ‘hey, who do I know who has tools and is dumb enough to come over and try and scare a tiger?’ So he called me.”

Didorosi was asked if he had a leafblower that could be used to spur the tiger into action.
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He didn’t, so he grabbed the next most tiger intimidating tool he had handy: a small, electric-powered weed whacker.
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“He just batted it aside,” Didorosi said.
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“Then they asked us to pick up this big blue tarp and make scary animal noises because the tiger was used to human noises.
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The goal was to spook him down the stairs and to his trainer.”

But neither the weedwhacker nor the tarp had any effect on the tiger, which Didorosi described as friendly but pretty darned big.
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“Then the photographer and his crew left for lunch,” Didorosi said.
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“They just said: ‘See ya; you guys want anything?’ ”

After the crew left, the trainer got the big cat back in his trailer and Didorosi went back to his office.

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