Thailand's tiger cub tourism is both helping and hurting animal conservation

[webfact]

Thailand's tiger cub tourism is both helping and hurting animal conservation
BY AMANDA MUSTARD

KANCHANABURI: -- Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua, or the Tiger Temple, began in 1994 as a Theravada Buddhist monastery nestled in the forest three hours west of Bangkok, Thailand. The monks took in abandoned wildlife, including everything from wild boar to peacocks, and yes, a few tigers.

Over the years the tigers multiplied, as did the visitors that came to see them. Today, a plethora of species still roam freely on the grounds, but it is now known as Tiger Temple: tourist hotspot, perpetual controversy, and home to almost 150 tigers.

The case of the Tiger Temple is culturally complex, but one of the most important factors is the impact tourist interaction has had on animal welfare. The steady increase of big cats at the temple has been driven by the monks’ and tourists’ desire for baby tigers. When tigers reach up to 280 lb in their first year, the window for those fuzzy cubs is tight.

Tourism pays those bills, but tourists want more cubs (and selfies with them, especially for Tindr Guys). It’s a vicious cycle, and causes inevitable mishaps. In December 2014, 3 tigers disappeared, and their tracking chips were removed. In May, the head abbot was mauled during a daily tourist demonstration where the monks interact with the older tigers.

Full story: http://mashable.com/2015/08/02/thailand-tiger-tourism/

-- Mashable 2015-08-03

[Bluespunk]

This sort of tourism does nothing but ensure profits for those exploiting the cubs.

[noitom]

Nonsensical Thai story illustrating the lack of adult supervision in Thailand.

[bangkokfrog]

How very (un) Buddhist. It would be interesting to see the bank accounts and assets of the temple, its abbot and his family. However, as we all know, this kind of accountability is off-limits for senior members of the Bhikkhu Sangha.

[Dibbler]

Clueless reporting that ignores the plain facts that have been researched and published over the years, including here, here and here. Among other things, the Tiger Temple is a front for an international tiger smuggling business with links with one of the biggest wildlife traders in SE Asia, based in Lao. Can Thailand's tourist industry mature a bit and move on from the idea that foreign visitors need to have the opportunity to take photo opportunities with animals that have been drugged and mistreated. Plenty of ways for tourists to enjoy wildlife in nature by visiting Thai parks and sanctuaries. Articles like this offering false choices do not help the average reader. Suggest the reporter to do better research next time!

[circusman]

Clueless reporting that ignores the plain facts that have been researched and published over the years, including here, here and here. Among other things, the Tiger Temple is a front for an international tiger smuggling business with links with one of the biggest wildlife traders in SE Asia, based in Lao. Can Thailand's tourist industry mature a bit and move on from the idea that foreign visitors need to have the opportunity to take photo opportunities with animals that have been drugged and mistreated. Plenty of ways for tourists to enjoy wildlife in nature by visiting Thai parks and sanctuaries. Articles like this offering false choices do not help the average reader. Suggest the reporter to do better research next time!

Your reporting is also suspect Dibbler. Who says they are drugged ? Never been proven. Not even sensible. You can not keep a group of tigers drugged. Even a dozen would not be feasible. Unlike you, I have experience in keeping tigers.

[Dibbler]

Clueless reporting that ignores the plain facts that have been researched and published over the years, including here, here and here. Among other things, the Tiger Temple is a front for an international tiger smuggling business with links with one of the biggest wildlife traders in SE Asia, based in Lao. Can Thailand's tourist industry mature a bit and move on from the idea that foreign visitors need to have the opportunity to take photo opportunities with animals that have been drugged and mistreated. Plenty of ways for tourists to enjoy wildlife in nature by visiting Thai parks and sanctuaries. Articles like this offering false choices do not help the average reader. Suggest the reporter to do better research next time!

Your reporting is also suspect Dibbler. Who says they are drugged ? Never been proven. Not even sensible. You can not keep a group of tigers drugged. Even a dozen would not be feasible. Unlike you, I have experience in keeping tigers.

Who thinks tigers at the Temple of Lies are drugged? Many visitors do according to the reviews here, not to mention the investigators that also found that the tigers are routinely abused in other ways. Perhaps you should go and see for yourself??

[Patong2]

Clueless reporting that ignores the plain facts that have been researched and published over the years, including here, here and here. Among other things, the Tiger Temple is a front for an international tiger smuggling business with links with one of the biggest wildlife traders in SE Asia, based in Lao. Can Thailand's tourist industry mature a bit and move on from the idea that foreign visitors need to have the opportunity to take photo opportunities with animals that have been drugged and mistreated. Plenty of ways for tourists to enjoy wildlife in nature by visiting Thai parks and sanctuaries. Articles like this offering false choices do not help the average reader. Suggest the reporter to do better research next time!

Your reporting is also suspect Dibbler. Who says they are drugged ? Never been proven. Not even sensible. You can not keep a group of tigers drugged. Even a dozen would not be feasible. Unlike you, I have experience in keeping tigers.

Who thinks tigers at the Temple of Lies are drugged? Many visitors do according to the reviews here, not to mention the investigators that also found that the tigers are routinely abused in other ways. Perhaps you should go and see for yourself??

We have been and the ones we handled were not drugged. In the heat of the day tigers in the wild usually sleep, they hunt at night and early morning.

Keep them well fed and they will be fairly sleepy during the day, add to that the routine of being handled and they will be fairly placid.

Of course eventually there will be a problem and a serious attack, thankfully it wasn't when we were there.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Patong2

[Jimlove]

Ah yes, the Temples that like to keep animals ... I remember the Sun-Bears - what a disgusting way to treat animals ...

They were supposed to take away the tigers from this horrible Tiger Temple but I guess a BIG Brown envelope surfaced ...

[jacko45k]

Do they have to keep an eye out for American Dentists?

[Dibbler]

Clueless reporting that ignores the plain facts that have been researched and published over the years, including here, here and here. Among other things, the Tiger Temple is a front for an international tiger smuggling business with links with one of the biggest wildlife traders in SE Asia, based in Lao. Can Thailand's tourist industry mature a bit and move on from the idea that foreign visitors need to have the opportunity to take photo opportunities with animals that have been drugged and mistreated. Plenty of ways for tourists to enjoy wildlife in nature by visiting Thai parks and sanctuaries. Articles like this offering false choices do not help the average reader. Suggest the reporter to do better research next time!

Your reporting is also suspect Dibbler. Who says they are drugged ? Never been proven. Not even sensible. You can not keep a group of tigers drugged. Even a dozen would not be feasible. Unlike you, I have experience in keeping tigers.

Who thinks tigers at the Temple of Lies are drugged? Many visitors do according to the reviews here, not to mention the investigators that also found that the tigers are routinely abused in other ways. Perhaps you should go and see for yourself??

We have been and the ones we handled were not drugged. In the heat of the day tigers in the wild usually sleep, they hunt at night and early morning.

Keep them well fed and they will be fairly sleepy during the day, add to that the routine of being handled and they will be fairly placid.

Of course eventually there will be a problem and a serious attack, thankfully it wasn't when we were there.

There have been numerous attacks by tigers on both tiger handlers and visitors over the years. The last serious one was when the abbott himself was attacked. This article covers that incident and attempts to evaluate some of the facts from the distortions of truth that came from the temple about the incident.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Dibbler

[William C F Pierce]

Every time there is a story about tiger. Some idiot has to mention that the tigers are are drugged. I have visited the tigers at both Kanchanaburi and the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai. If you feel a tiger's heartbeat, it is over a second between each heartbeat. The tigers are on view to the public 10 to 12 hours a day continuously. Medicinal drugs on people where off in 4 hours, before the next dose is taken. On a big animal like a tiger a drug would wear off a lot quicker. When a big animal is sedated it is normally only 30 minutes before it wears off. There is no-one who has testified to seeing this happen anywhere in Thailand. If you repeat a lie often enough. There is always someone willing to believe it. I am quite happy to trust a tiger more than I would some people. Also they are not completely carnivorous as they do like to chew bamboo shoots occasionally.

[Dibbler]

Every time there is a story about tiger. Some idiot has to mention that the tigers are are drugged. I have visited the tigers at both Kanchanaburi and the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai. If you feel a tiger's heartbeat, it is over a second between each heartbeat. The tigers are on view to the public 10 to 12 hours a day continuously. Medicinal drugs on people where off in 4 hours, before the next dose is taken. On a big animal like a tiger a drug would wear off a lot quicker. When a big animal is sedated it is normally only 30 minutes before it wears off. There is no-one who has testified to seeing this happen anywhere in Thailand. If you repeat a lie often enough. There is always someone willing to believe it. I am quite happy to trust a tiger more than I would some people. Also they are not completely carnivorous as they do like to chew bamboo shoots occasionally.

Perhaps you had better leave the commentary about captive tiger biology to the "idiots". For your information the tigers in the facilities you mention are not exhibiting normal behaviour or physiology due to the stress of being penned up with other tigers, poor diet and health and mistreatment by handlers. Wild tigers are normally solitary animals, and they are obligate carnivores meaning they rely entirely on meat as a source of protein, and are taught to hunt by their mothers. In the Temple of Lies, the tigers never learnt how to hunt as they were separated from their mothers at birth, and they are fed dead chickens, among other things. On that diet it's no wonder they choose to chew on other things occasionally, including the odd monk.

[Loeilad]

The tiger Cub industry does nothing but harm genuine conservation efforts; it gives tourists the false impression that by paying to "pet" these creatures,they are in some way helping the conservation of tigers....nothing could be further from the truth...no money ever makes its way into a genuine conservation project from these sources, nor would any self-respecting conservation group accept any money. these are purely circus entertainment attractions and have no conservation value whatsoever.

[Loeilad]

Many animals.... Carnivores will chew on grasses etc.... This is often a result of stomach pains.... The grasses or herbs may even have medicinal effects...... Or it might just clean their teeth.

One thing is sure though, if they are fedcooked food - as in the Tiger temple - it will lack some of the nutrients they need that are obtained from raw meat.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Loeilad

[Loeilad]

"The monks took in abandoned wildlife, including everything from wild boar to peacocks, and yes, a few tigers."

There is no hard evidence to suggest that the first tigers the temple had were anything but bought.... The result of poaching and slaughter of the mother.

[Loeilad]

"Over the years the tigers multiplied,".. This is somewhat euphemistic?

The temple embarked on a breeding orogram that appears to be in contravention of various domestic lkaws and international treaties...

[jaidam]

The illicit trading by officialdom and the political elite in big cats is alive and well in Thailand. If you have any doubt in the truth to my prior sentence then you had better research Yooyee, her jail term, and the real reason for it. Disturbing on so many levels. Also quite shocking is the fact that a previous government minister (deputy PM no less) was caught selling hundreds of tigers to the Chinese for obvious purposes. You will not be shocked to learn his case is going nowhere fast.

The tiger "tourism"is wrong but only a tiny part of the tiger's plight.

[cumgranosalum]

Tiger tourism is the FACE" of the tiger to many - it is places like the temple and their misleading claims that lull tourists into a false sense of security about the tiger's fate. It beguiles visitors into believing that they are helping conserve the Tiger - in reality they are doing the opposite - it is through the trade and industry that surrounds places like the temple and other "attractions" that people in high places are able to make huge amounts of money through the trade in Tiger parts etc etc.

Remember that the minister in question licenced the export of Tigers from the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo - another highly dubious "attraction".

in China, tiger farms use similar methods - public displays etc to put a people-friendly face on what they do.

Until tourists become aware of what they are contributing to there is little chance of raising public awareness to a level where the plight of the the tiger and it's eco-systems can be adequately addressed.