Two people who were mauled by tigers at a wild game park nine years ago were awarded more than $2.5 million in an Ontario court on Thursday.

David Belac and his former girlfriend Jennifer-Ann Cowles convinced Madam Justice Jean MacFarland that they had not ignored posted warnings to keep their car windows closed as they drove through the African Lion Safari park near Hamilton on April 19, 1996.

In a ruling issued on Thursday in Hamilton, the judge said the park should be held "strictly liable for damages resulting from such display" of wild predators like Bengal tigers.

She awarded Belac $1.7 million and Cowles $813,000.

The couple argued that their windows were closed prior to the attack. They were opened, they said, when a tiger bumped the car, startling Belac and causing him to accidentally hit the switches for the automatic windows.

One 113-kilogram tiger reached in a window and mauled both Belac and Cowles. Two others tried to climb in while the couple struggled with the first.

Belac, an accomplished accordion player, was bitten on both arms, his right arm suffering muscle, tendon and nerve damage.

Cowles was an exotic dancer at the time, and argued the injuries she suffered and the scars they left ended her career as a "feature" dancer and curtailed her ability to make money as a stripper.

She has since finished high school and is working to support the elderly.

1. ISSUES- (Identify relevant issues in the incident) The main issues in a legal case are those that are under dispute by the parties. Issues are most often formulated in the form of a question, beginning with the word, whether. As in the following: "Whether the employer

or representative owed the prospective employee a duty of care." 1 If the issue(s) of a case are not explicitly stated, be sure to formulate them into a question. Remember, the issue(s) are the main reasons why the parties are in dispute