Wildliferescue

Any government official big or small should be officially ashamed from today on! Where is the law here? How much more do we need to lose??? The red shirts are showing again they are using terrorist means to fight for their cause, the government should act NOW! STOP THESE RED SHIRTS NOW!

It is about time that the government acts. Thes eguys have done more than enough damage! Anyone that says the red shirts are any good to the country or even democracy must look at the damage they have done. Enough is enough!

This story came out a few times in this area, last time just over a year ago. We had a wildlife rescue team go out there yesterday but we have seen zero proof of the existence of this leopard. It is indeed a pity that experts are not asked to help, we came without invitation and the livestock dep followed us everywhere, so worried we would find it before they did...

I don't think anyone can say that a foreigner in Thailand doesn't have the right to have an opinion on Thai politics. It is up to the Thai people individually whether they care about this opinion or not. Whether we like it or not, we live in an open global society nowadays, where the internet goes beyond national borders...

So Abhisit, you can do much better than this, you are working under your ability. But you do better than any of the guys that went before you over the last few years.

If you have both names on the Chanoth and have no other written agreement I see no other way than to go to the civil court. Gentlemen agreements do not count in a Thai court.

A case like this should be finalized quite fast in civil court.

The Chiangmai Nightsafari has proper cameras installed and the whole place is fenced off. Hippos do not climb fences as monkeys do so he should have made a big hole somewhere in the fence if he did get out. Ridiculous is however that he went missing on Thursday and only by Sunday people will start looking for it.

In Thailand thousands of animals go missing from zoos, usually with help from the inside. Where most of these numbers are smaller animals such as birds and reptiles, we know about the smuggling out of gibbons and even orangutans and tigers. When it concerns these bigger sized or more endangered animals management is usually involved.

In the past many animals died at the night safari without any obvious reason, an even higher number has disappeared, while other animals such as illegally traded orangutans and lemurs showed up at this facility without any documents...

These things happen in zoos elsewhere as well, but not that often and it would definitely not take 4 days to get around. There is something smelly on this case and it ain't the hippo poo!

Edwin Wiek

Wildlife Friends Foundation

The case can be quite easy;

I read yesterday that the bar owner did not want to press charges. If that is true there is no case at all. The police cannot keep someone without the owner of the stolen goods reporting the matter at the police station or with a senior police inspector.

If the bar-owner actually did press charges and wants to see the case to court the police is not to blame, if the woman does confess to the charges she can go to court the same day and she will probably be fined and receive a short suspended jail term. If she denies the charge it might take a lot longer as the local chief of police, or in a later stage the prosecutor, might ask for more details before going to court. The fine will surely be higher this way, and even a short jail-term is possible.

The easiest way out is the withdrawal of the complaint by the bar-owner however, think he has had enough bad publicity now....

As a person who is involved with wildlife protection I hope to see the Phuket police enforce the laws on the island regarding wildlife as serious as the above matter; baby monkeys, gibbons and lots of other protected species are illegally paraded along Patong for photo opportunities with tourists for years now and even written complaints to the chief have not made any difference yet...

Captive Monkey kills Baby, who is to blame?

Bangkok, 15 December 2007

The recent killing of a human baby by a captive monkey unfortunately illustrates again that keeping a wild animal a pet is in principal a dangerous matter. The pig-tailed macaque that was held as a pet escaped from its leech on December 5^th and although the owner tried to catch the monkey and asked for help from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife they were not able to get a hold on it. Subsequently the macaque killed a two month old baby on the thirteenth of December. The monkey was shot dead the next day.

Besides the fact that the owner of the monkey is in principal guilty of any damage done by the macaque, it does occur to us that some blame is to be with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNP) for not enforcing the wildlife preservation act that stipulates that no one is allowed to hunt, transport or keep endangered wildlife. All macaque species are subject to this law that was issued in 1992. Around Thailand we find wild animals as pets with private citizen and small businesses, some for personal satisfaction, some to attract customers or tourists, but in almost all cases hunted from the wild. A survey in 2006 by the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) suggests that over 4,000 primates (Monkeys and gibbons) alone are being illegally kept as "pets" over the country. The WFFT has send over 40 complaints and reports on this issue to the DNP over the last 18 months and has yet to receive the first reply form the authorities, while no legal action was taken. Another tragedy is about to happen again if the status quo remains unchanged.

The DNP has numerous times forbidden any NGO to rescue, help or care for captive wildlife however lacks the motivation and/or expertise to deal effectively with the matter themselves. Recently a juvenile bear that was rescued from a temple in Cha-am Petchaburi by forestry officials, escaped only days later from a sub-standard cage at the government facility and has been roaming a community forest near Hua-hin for over a month, scaring local villagers. Offers by the WFFT Wildlife rescue Team to help locate and catch the bear to move it elsewhere have not been accepted, it will probably be shot dead, paying with its life for the incompetence of one person.

Since the story on the killed baby broke the news the WFFT has received several calls from wildlife pet owners that want to give up their monkey to the foundation. One family drove up without even calling in advance and handed over a pig-tailed macaque expressing fear of a similar attack, the monkey was refused at a government facility ass they were supposedly full..

Edwin Wiek

Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand

www.wfft.org

I read many replies on the issue written on the website of the WFFT (wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand) and wish to clarify a few things concerning the tiger temple. I think we should first of all realize where the tigers originally came from. We have received reports that came from good sources that the first tigers came from an elephant camp nearby and were SOLD to the temple. The cubs were indeed orphans, but only after their mother was killed in the wild. It is also confirmed by the Royal Thai Police to us that they have NEVER given any confiscated tigers to the temple for (temporary) care. As a matter of fact all tigers at the temple have been officially confiscated from the temple (in 2002), but were allowed to remain there as the government had no holding facilities at that time.

I think that the issue of animal welfare is an easy one to conclude here. Keeping tigers (and lately also lions and bears) in tiny dark enclosures is criminal. The excuse that there is no money for better enclosures a straight out lie. The temple has 300 to 400 visitors a day each paying 300 baht, besides this the animals are forced to lay down with tourists and be photographed for lots of money. They go back in their little cages immediately after the tourists leave. Volunteers at the temple have reported (and not just one individual but many) that the tigers that do not obey during the day will be disciplined in the evening by the monks and Thai staff, resulting in a beating to break their spirit.

I think that some people are scared to speak up as it involves monks here, but a very long documentary on Thai TV a few months ago showed the real face of the abbot on animal welfare and other even more serious mafia style practices at the temple by Thai journalists and locals that were threatened (TITV Thord Rahas). I myself live at a temple and work at many other temples and see that the majority of monks are real, but there are always some people that try to exploit the system.

my conclusion for this is that the tiger temple is NOT involved with WILDLIFE CONSERVATION at all as they do not educate, protect or conserve. They ARE involved in ANIMAL ABUSE as they keep the animals in bad conditions. The temple is a money spinner for those who take the admission fee and other money for the pictures with foreigners. You will hardly see Thai people there as they know what is going on, some other Asian people do come who are fooled by the story just as most of the westerners...