The Tiger Temple Becomes a Zoo
Today the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi is one of the most favorite of visitor attractions for visitors to Bangkok. Just a consolidate of hours from the city it now forms a part of many dissimilar tours. In fact there are visitors to Thailand who come especially to see the Tiger Temple.
One could very beyond doubt believe that the Temples tradition of rearing and living with tigers is a long established humane pursuit. It isn’t though. The temple has only been complex with tigers since 1999.
Kanchanaburi
At this time two orphaned tigers, probably taken from a poached mother, were handed in to the temple. The monks decided to rear them. Very swiftly it was noted that the tigers stimulated an interest in visitors. Visitors were also ready to pay to touch the tigers and have their photographs taken with them. Commercial greed reared its ugly head. Far from needing money to pay for a consolidate of tigers, more tigers were purchased illegally. There was trade in tigers against international law. They also started breeding tigers, pulling the cubs from their mothers and rearing them on pig milk.
There was talk of policy of ‘conservation’ which the citizen complex do not have an inkling of understanding about and of ‘saving’ the tigers which is just as laughable. The tigers were neither being conserved nor saved. It was even recommend that they would be returning tigers to the wild. This is a specialist job and could not be done with semi humanised tigers of unknown parentage and also the tigers already in the wild were already in sufficient problems without having their territory encroached on by other animals.
Visitors to the tiger temple only see the tip of the iceberg and can be forgiven in believing that they are finding something wonderful. The ‘Lion lays down with the Lamb’ but in this case the monk with the tiger. Visitors can be forgiven in getting a kick out of being so close to a big cat.
Lions or Tigers having been hand reared are all the time going to be that microscopic bit tamer than a mum reared animal but they are not 100% safe. They are not domesticated. They are wild animals. There is an ever present risk that at some point someone is going to get killed.
Volunteers who have worked at the temple talk of the tigers being drugged, of being beaten and of being illegally traded.
The International Tiger Coalition wrote an record to the Thai Government in 2008 outlining their fears and hopes. The reply they received said the Tigers were now the property of the Government but cared for by the Monks whilst a decision was made on their future.
In August 2009 the Tiger Temple was given permission to operate as a zoo. This means that they now have virtual free rein to continue with their crimes.
The Tiger Temple Becomes a Zoo
Thanks To : เกาะหลีเป๊ะ Phuket Resort Captain Hook Resort, Koh Kood