(TH): Tiger Temple- Illegal Wildlife Trafficking, Animal Cruelty and Tourist Safety Risks

[Guest guest]

*Posted on AAPN with the permission of:*

 

*Guna Subramaniam*

*SE Asia Director*

* *

*Care for the Wild International (CWI)*

* *

*Tel: +**66 8 4 773 7426*

*Email: guna*

*Website: **www.careforthewild.com* <http://www.careforthewild.com/>

 

 

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Tiger Temple- Illegal Wildlife Trafficking, Animal Cruelty and Tourist

Safety Risks

 

http://www.careforthewild.com/news.asp?detail=true & I_ID=578 & section=Latest+News

 

A report released today by British conservation group Care for the Wild

International (CWI) reveals disturbing

evidence of animal abuse and illegal tiger trafficking at one of Thailand's

premier tourist destinations.

 

 

The report follows a two year investigation into the conduct of staff at

Thailand's Tiger Temple in

Kanchanaburi. Up to 300 international tourists visit this facility each day,

but boosted by the worldwide

broadcast of a documentary on Animal Planet, numbers reach almost 900 on

busy days.

 

 

CWI's Chief Executive Dr Barbara Maas says, " The Temple's popularity is

based around claims that its tigers

were rescued from poachers and move freely and peacefully amongst the

temple's monks, who are actively

engaged in conservation work. But this utopian façade hides a sinister

reality of unbridled violence and illegal

trafficking of tigers between Thailand and Laos. "

 

 

Approximately 15 tigers live at Temple at any one time. Poor housing,

husbandry and cruel handling are

systemic throughout the facility. Far from being allowed to roam free,

tigers are confined for 20 hours a day

away from public view in small, barren concrete cages, measuring 31.5 m2 to

37.3 m2. This falls short of the

published minimum of 500m2 for a pair or a mother and her cubs. Staff also

routinely beat adult tigers and

cubs with poles and metal rods.

 

 

As a result, the tigers suffer a catalogue of behavioural and physical

problems, including lameness, skeletal

deformities and stereotypic behaviour, such as pacing and self-mutilation.

These complaints are further

exacerbated by malnutrition and poor veterinary care.

 

 

CWI's Southeast Asia Director, Guna Subramaniam says, " Interacting closely

with live tigers is the chief

attraction that draws tourists to the Temple. Each day between 1pm and 4pm

some ten tigers are chained up

in the Temple's 'Tiger Canyon', where paying visitors, including young

children, can touch, sit or lie on the

animals' front or back. For a further fee they can also have their

photograph taken. Staff prop up the tigers

with heavy concrete bowls to oblige them to adopt and maintain appealing

poses. Tigers are also pulled into

position by their tail and sometimes punched, kicked or beaten to make them

compliant. Temple staff tower

over the animals and control them by squirting urine into their faces from a

bottle. In the wild, tigers use urine

as a territorial or aggressive signal. Sprayed by staff at close quarters is

extremely aggressive. "

 

 

A Thai wildlife trader claims to have sold the Temple its first tigers. CWI

also obtained evidence that, rather

than rescue orphaned tiger cubs, the Temple operates as an illegal breeding

facility and is involved in the

clandestine exchange of tigers with the owner of a tiger farm in Laos. Tiger

Temple sources told CWI that a

minimum of seven tigers listed in the Temple's 2005 and 2007 brochures

disappeared, while at least five

individuals appeared without explanation. " It is mostly older animals that

were sent to Laos in exchange for

young cubs, " says Dr Maas. " No one knows what happened to them there. These

actions contravene both

local and international laws under CITES (Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species).

 

 

" Some of the new tigers were given the same names as animals who had been

exported to Laos to obscure

the fact that tigers are being moved in and out, and to perpetuate the

impression that the Temple provides

rescued tigers with life-long care. "

 

 

The Temple claims to breed tigers for conservation. It does not have a

breeding license, but at least ten cubs

were born there. With no information about the tigers' subspecies, most if

not all offspring are likely to be

hybrids. For this reason alone the Temple's tigers are unsuitable for

inclusion in a recognised conservation

breeding programmes. Another concern is that the release of tigers that are

used to human proximity is

dangerous and potentially fatal for humans, livestock and the tigers, and so

is almost never viable.

 

 

CWI's report also raises concerns about visitor safety. There are numerous

well-documented and even fatal

attacks on humans by 'trained' and apparently mild-mannered captive wild

cats, including during photo

sessions. However, Temple staff fail to prevent direct contact even when the

tigers are aggressive.

 

 

When asked why tourists don't get bitten, the Abbot replied: " They want to

bite. One day they will bite. " The

Temple explicitly renounces any responsibility for injuries and asks

visitors to sign a disclaimer at the

entrance.

 

 

" There is no doubt that the tourists who visit the Tiger Temple from

Britain, Europe and the US do so

because they are fond of tigers, " says Dr Maas. " But unlike these visitors

who part with their cash under the

misconception that it will benefit the Temple's animals and help protect

wild tigers, the tigers can't leave.

 

 

" CWI is alarmed about the animal welfare problems, false conservation

claims, furtive cross-border

movements of tigers, and acute risks to visitor safety at the Kanchanaburi

Tiger Temple, which is nothing but

a sordid theme park that betrays one of the most imperilled species on

earth. "

 

 

" CWI met with the Temple's Abbot to discuss these problems and work towards

a solution. However, the

Abbot was reluctant to negotiate and showed no interest in reform, " said

CWI's Guna Subramaniam.

 

 

CWI recommends that Thailand's Department of National Parks confiscates the

Temple's illegally held tigers

and transfers them to a sanctuary facility, where the animals can be

accommodated and cared for

appropriately. CWI has identified a suitable facility in Thailand and is

offering its full support for this

operation.

 

 

Download report here:

 

http://www.careforthewild.com/projects.asp?detail=true & I_ID=580 & mypage=Reports

 

 

Video footage on YouTube:

Tiger Temple/ Animal Cruelty -1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qENTMsbJ3jw

 

Tiger Temple/ Animal Cruelty, Moving with Force- 2

 

Tiger Temple/ Aggressive Tigers - 3

 

Tiger Temple/ Injured Tiger- 4

 

Tiger Temple/ Restrained for Photo-taking- 5

 

Tiger Temple/ Visitor Safety Risks- 6

 

Tiger Temple/ Enclosures- 7

 

 

*

Guna Subramaniam*

*SE Asia Director*

* *

*Care for the Wild International (CWI)*

* *

*Tel: +**66 8 4 773 7426*

*Email: guna*

*Website: **www.careforthewild.com* <http://www.careforthewild.com/>

*

*

 

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