In the heart of Rocky II, there’s the memorable scene where Rocky pops the question to Adrian at the Philadelphia Zoo. But the real heavyweight in that shot? Kundur, the majestic Siberian tiger strutting his stuff right behind them.
Kundur wasn’t just any big cat. Born in 1970 at Germany’s Leipzig Zoo, he made his way to the Philadelphia Zoo in ’71. This guy tipped the scales at a whopping 500 pounds and had a daily feast of 18 pounds of meat. Visitors couldn’t get enough of him, and he had a soft spot for some of his keepers—though he didn’t warm up to everyone.
One of those keepers was William Altimari of Tucson, Arizona, who reached out to us to share his firsthand tales:
“I recently watched Rocky II, certainly one of the finest sequels ever, for the first time in many years and thought the readers on Total Rocky might be interested in some information on the biggest character in the famous marriage proposal scene at the Philadelphia Zoo.”
“I’ll send ya an invitation, Mr. Tiger!”
There’s something pure and simple about the moment—no flashy setup, no grand gestures. Just Rocky, Adrian, and the quiet snowfall that turned the Philadelphia Zoo into a private, almost magical place. But they weren’t alone.
Behind them, in the background of this romantic scene, Kundur paces in his enclosure. A magnificent Siberian tiger, he was no ordinary zoo resident.
“I was privileged to be one of the cat keepers who cared for him in his prime,” Altimari recalls. “I was working in the Reptile House on the day of the filming – which brought an unexpected snowfall – and I did not get to meet the stars.”
Filming the Snowfall on the Marriage Proposal
The zoo scene appears empty, not because the Rocky II film crew cleared it, but simply because few visitors came that day.
“As I recall, it took most of the day to film the scene. One of the oddities of it is the presence of all the vehicles belonging to the film crew parked in the background of the initial zoo shot,” Altimari says.
“As anyone who has been to the zoo knows (and that’s millions of people), that’s the main walkway for the public near the two outdoor cat grottoes, and one never saw cars crammed in there. It always struck me as odd, since the crew was there all day, that they didn’t bother to move them but left them carelessly cluttering the background of the shot.”
Kundur was chosen for the scene not only for his impressive size but also because he had the commanding presence that would stand out on screen. The unexpected snowfall that day made it even more fitting. His thick Siberian coat against the wintry backdrop created a picture-perfect moment.
Sadly, Kundur was euthanized in 1983 at the age of thirteen due to incurable cancer in his jaw. As William Altimari recalled, “He had great affection for me and I for him.”
