It’s well to remember that feline instincts remain simple — chase, attack, kill and eat.

It wasn’t long ago that a popular talk-show guest and wildlife expert, Jim Fowler, was describing cats, all the way from timid Tabby to a regal Bengal tiger giant. Fowler first stressed that for the most part the bigger members of the species can be trained but never tamed.

Then he gave a C-A-K-E formula for all felines, from the smallest to the largest, wild or domestic. Time has never eliminated their basic instinct to chase, attack, kill and eat. Watch even the friendliest home animal go after a rodent some time. The point comes through.

But there is a vast difference between a pet that weighs a few pounds and one that weighs 400 pounds or more. And immediately the “train and tame” philosophy leaps into prominence.

Roy Horn, one of the world’s foremost trainers of big cats such as tigers, lions and leopards, remains in critical condition after a recent attack by one of his most trusted pets. The incident occurred during the presentation of the Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas.

Horn and his partner, Siegfried Fischbacher, had been through the show routine thousands of times without serious problems. Their approaches to the huge felines they feature in their acts had always worked. On this occasion, one 600-pound animal reverted to its instincts and nearly killed its “beloved” trainer. Again, trained but never tame.

Not long after that, it was learned that a man had been keeping a 425-pound tiger, along with a 5-foot alligator, in his apartment in a Harlem housing project. The huge and unpredictable animal has been there some time, although it is difficult to understand how any degree of secrecy could have protected such a venue.

The New York cat must have become upset. It attacked its owner and sent him to the hospital. The cat and the alligator are being relocated but even with his wounds the owner wants back “my only friend.”

Now in the Lawrence area there appears to be a breed of mountain lion on the loose. Apparently the animal is shy and retiring, but what happens when it gets hungry? Chase, attack, kill and eat. Will the prey be an animal or a human? Little wonder some joggers are rethinking their routes on Kansas University’s west campus these days.

There is a growing trend for people to buy and try to manage exotic animals such as tigers as pets. They are courting disaster, if not for themselves perhaps loved ones or neighbors. They do not do the animals any favors, either. Often the creatures suffer in confinement.

There is no better example of what can happen than with the celebrated Roy Horn. Many animal instincts are far more powerful than any ability of humans to overcome them. People are foolish to try to deny or negate that.