Swedish Man Attacked By Tiger During Visit To Tiger Temple Outside Bangkok

[TimTang]

...(Mid way between Norway mainland and the North Pole)...

I thought Santa lived in Canada?

[Nisa]

Still wondering what the Swede needed to climb over.

[TimTang]

Still wondering what the Swede needed to climb over.

Yeah! It doesn't exactly look very restricted to me. The only real restriction would appear to be the length of the chain on the Tigers.

[TimTang]

I could never figure out what possesses people to want to get a picture of them selves petting a tiger so they can go home and bore their friends and relatives with their holiday pictures.

"...and here's one of me petting a heavily sedated tiger; and here's one of me petting a stuffed elephant at the Emporium shopping center..."

[Muppetbkk]

There is no restricted area at this so called temple with fake monks ... The tigers ate bred and sold to Laos and onto china ... The place should be banned but it won't be as too many people are making too much money from it !!

[Deeral]

There is no restricted area at this so called temple with fake monks ... The tigers ate bred and sold to Laos and onto china ... The place should be banned but it won't be as too many people are making too much money from it !!

THere has been a rain of protest over this shabby little place - but as far as I'm aware no-one has ever suggested BANNING it......

There have been efforts to advise, takeover management and stock, suggestions of relocation of animals but never banning - in fact I'm not even sure what you mean by that.

To be practical what is needed is a tea of experts to sort the place out as it is an animal welfare and conservationist's nightmare

Edited January 3, 2011 by Deeral

[surayu]

"....what is needed is a tea of experts... "

Thailand, the hub of (quality) tea! :jap:

[brahmburgers]

It is a sad commentary on Thai wildlife that nearly all tigers still in Thailand are captive - and most of those are kept like pets. Tigers should not be kept as pets - by monks of anyone else. They are wild animals which deserve all the assistance people can afford them - in order to live in the wild. ....or (better) to just be left alone, without their habitat getting trashed.

Through the insistence of my hill tribe g.f., I visited a tiger petting zoo north of Chiang Mai. I don't doubt the animals were drugged. Certainly they were cowed by cruel training. As we were walking around off the beaten track (no pun intended), we witnessed a training session with young tigers. The Thai handlers would jostle the tiger cubs. If a cub snarled or raised a paw, it was smacked hard on the snout with an oversized chopstick - while the handlers chuckled.

Thailand in general, sucks at maintaining natural habitat for wild animals. I would guess that less than 1% of its landmass and shoreline are set aside as unfettered natural environment.

[Muppetbkk]

Sorry, I mean that temples and other entertainment venues should be banned from keeping tigers or any other endangered wildlife...the monks at the tiger temple are a nasty bunch and blatantly lie to conservation NGOs about the reasons behind them keeping tigers ... It's been over yen years since they lied on animal planet saying

that the money was desperately needed and a new enclosure would be built within a year ... They still live in the same cages whilst the monks continue to rake in the cash !!

[Deeral]

It is a sad commentary on Thai wildlife that nearly all tigers still in Thailand are captive - and most of those are kept like pets. Tigers should not be kept as pets - by monks of anyone else. They are wild animals which deserve all the assistance people can afford them - in order to live in the wild. ....or (better) to just be left alone, without their habitat getting trashed.

Through the insistence of my hill tribe g.f., I visited a tiger petting zoo north of Chiang Mai. I don't doubt the animals were drugged. Certainly they were cowed by cruel training. As we were walking around off the beaten track (no pun intended), we witnessed a training session with young tigers. The Thai handlers would jostle the tiger cubs. If a cub snarled or raised a paw, it was smacked hard on the snout with an oversized chopstick - while the handlers chuckled.

Thailand in general, sucks at maintaining natural habitat for wild animals. I would guess that less than 1% of its landmass and shoreline are set aside as unfettered natural environment.

THere is actually a report (you'll have to google it yourself.) that suggests that there is ample wild land in Thailand for many. many more Tigers....the problem in Thailand os not lack of habitat per se. It is the usage and human interference in that habitat. e.g. hunting of tigers prey by locals and of course hunting of tigers themselves.

[Deeral]

"....what is needed is a tea of experts... "

Thailand, the hub of (quality) tea! :jap:

I'm sure they could brew up a solution.We certainly don't want them to "leaf" the matter untouchedWhat is needed is more than a storm in a tea-cup, a proper "typhoo(N)" maybe?we hope at least that they stop their twinings and someone gives more than lipton-service to the problem.

[TBWG]

"Erik from Sundsvall climbed into a restricted area with nine tigers"

What a Neep !!

Like It!

TBWG

[TheJalapenoKid]

LMAO what a complete muppet

[toybits]

Anybody who goes to this kind of place should be bitten by those animals. Those tigers are being exploited by those persons in orange robes. That is a corrupted form of their belief. Tsk tsk...

[witold]

Is it true that the tigers that are presented to tourists to play with are sedated using drugs so that they appear calm and friendly? If so, maybe this guy went to the restricted area where the tigers had not been sedated and were therefore not suitable for tourists to play with.

Tiger Temple is a pretty shady enterprise. They've been collecting VERY HIGH admission fees for years - supposedly to build a nicer and bigger sanctuary for the tigers - but nothing is every making any progress. I would not trust TT with anything.

I have visited Tiger Kingdom outside Chiang Mai, and they are definitely legit. Tigers are definitely not sedated. Keep in mind that tigers don't do anything in the wild. They just lay down all day to conserve energy in the heat. If you want to see active tigers, go to TK right before sunset, when they naturally become more active. When I was there, they were jumping all around and running everywhere. No way were they sedated.

Also, on a side note, I did visit Cobra Village a bit North of Udon Thani, and the cobra they have to take pictures with IS definitely sedated. When they put it around my neck, it felt like a jello sponge that could barely keep its eyes open.

[fredtitmus]

Is it true that the tigers that are presented to tourists to play with are sedated using drugs so that they appear calm and friendly? If so, maybe this guy went to the restricted area where the tigers had not been sedated and were therefore not suitable for tourists to play with.

Tiger Temple is a pretty shady enterprise. They've been collecting VERY HIGH admission fees for years - supposedly to build a nicer and bigger sanctuary for the tigers - but nothing is every making any progress. I would not trust TT with anything.

I have visited Tiger Kingdom outside Chiang Mai, and they are definitely legit. Tigers are definitely not sedated. Keep in mind that tigers don't do anything in the wild. They just lay down all day to conserve energy in the heat. If you want to see active tigers, go to TK right before sunset, when they naturally become more active. When I was there, they were jumping all around and running everywhere. No way were they sedated.

Also, on a side note, I did visit Cobra Village a bit North of Udon Thani, and the cobra they have to take pictures with IS definitely sedated. When they put it around my neck, it felt like a jello sponge that could barely keep its eyes open.

is that you eric?

[ginjag]

I didn't

"....what is needed is a tea of experts... "

Thailand, the hub of (quality) tea! :jap:

I'm sure they could brew up a solution.We certainly don't want them to "leaf" the matter untouchedWhat is needed is more than a storm in a tea-cup, a proper "typhoo(N)" maybe?we hope at least that they stop their twinings and someone gives more than lipton-service to the problem.

I didn't want to dregs the subject on, as earl grey is not amused, just a pg-tip for you, rosie lea with cup in hand, said she would tee off first on the course, to show her t shirt off. she was surely on ..pot...and needed a s-trainer to help her to play

[Deeral]

Firstly the drugging of the tigers at the temple is really only a side issue - there are far more serious and basic criticisms than this. THe breeding program, housing care, etc etc and a lot of highly dubious claims put forward by the temple to suggest that they are in some way a conservation project.

I'm not sure what people are basing their assumptions that the Tiger Temple drugs the tigers anyway.

Firstly I doubt if they are behavioural experts or have taken a close physiological examination of the animals.

The other thing that concerns me is how they might be administering the drugs and in what doses.The vet associated with the place admits he knows bugger all about tigers.If the doses are over a long period one would expect some behavioural problems to emerge - have they? I don't know....maybe the injuries to the Swede were the result of irrationally placid behaviour turning to playfulness - but that wouldn't be so far from normal behaviour.

I do think the animals a re "groomed" carefully before showing, so as to present the best possible image and tactile experience for the punters.

But it is fairly clear that the "monks" who run this place know diddly about keeping Tigers. Their practices are based on a mash-mash of quasi- buddhist soundbites and animistic beliefs with a hefty dash of showmanship. THere is virtually no scientifically proven theory n their approach.So, given the situation there I find it hard to believe that the monks could actually embark on a long ter program of drugging the animals without some pretty obvious side effects.

NB - I'm NOT defending the temple or denying that they COULD be drugged - it just seems that this argument in the long run is not only shaky but a waste of time.

What is needed is for the authorities to step in and take over the place and instate a management that knows what it is doing and a cessation to the various malpractices that are perpetrated there. (that would obviously bring a stop to any drugging too)

Edited January 5, 2011 by Deeral

[Deeral]

Re the Swede - it is all very well calling thew guy names, but it doesn't address any of the problems of the Temple.THe most obvious one in his case is SAFETY - no zoo worth it's salt is set up to allow easy access to dangerous animals.AS I said before - every crowd has one or two "idiots" who for good reasons or bad will put themselves and others in danger - one hears from time to time of people getting into enclosures at zoos around the world (the Temple is NOT a zoo) - but they usually have to make considerable effort to do this. At the temple this person managed to achieve this apparently with ease - this is a SERIOUS FAULT IN SAFETY PRECAUTIONS by the temple.

One of the "myths" the temple likes to promote is the idea of "man and east living in harmony with nature" - this is a highly dangerous concept as it lulls gullible visitors into a false sense of security and leads some to believe that in some "mystical" way these animals are no longer dangerous....which is of course rubbish - even a tiger that is just "playful" is potentially dangerous to humans.