Tiger Temple: Kanchanaburi, Thailand

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Tuesday, 29 September 2009 Responsible Tourism? Tiger Temple: Kanchanaburi,

Thailand

 

http://responsibletravelnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/responsible-tourism-tiger-temp\

le.html

 

I was recommended the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi by two fellow travellers

whilst in India. They described with vivid excitement their experience with

the tigers, including the cubs, and they time they spent having their photos

taken and watching the workers there playing with the animals. I knew then

that I wanted to see this temple and its grounds, and, of course the beasts

themselves.

 

 

Little did I know that my entrance fee to the temple (which in itself was

peculiar as temples are free to visit) would help fund one of the most

disturbing experiences of my life. The tigers are walked from their cages to

the “canyon”, approximately 200 meters away. This walk from cage to the

canyon is classified as their “exercise” in all the guide books and

information sites about the temple. Don’t be fooled. This exercise is tigers

being walked the 200m to the canyon and are then chained to the floor

throughout the midday heats whilst tourists pay thousands of Thai baht to

have their photos taken with the animals. A huge amount of controversy

exists surrounding whether or not the tigers are drugged because their

behaviour is abnormally docile and lethargic. They are pulled into position

by the workers there, normally by their tail, and repeatedly beaten with

sticks and sprayed with water to keep them under control. Standing there

watching the tigers pant and cry in 40 degree heat was unbearable, and only

after a few minutes did I realise I was standing alone - my partner couldn't

even come up close to look at them as their cries were too distressing.

 

 

The sheer boredom of these poor cats in the canyon was only one part of the

horrors faced in the temple. We walked back slowly to where the cats are

kept and could not believe the size of the cages. Two or three tigers can be

kept in cages only a couple of meters squared in size, and rumour has it

that there is a leopard in the vicinity with its cage hidden by old cloths

that has never been allowed out since its arrival because they have not been

able to subdue it sufficiently. We were fortunate to see a cub whilst there,

but the workers dragged it off by picking up its tail and collar and

throwing back into the cage.

 

 

How on earth this temple is classified as a sanctuary for tigers I have no

idea, and I urge anyone who is visiting the area to not even go out of

curiosity. The money spent is clearly not going to the right places. One

only need look up “animal cruelty” and “tiger temple” on the internet to

watch films of the behaviour that takes place here.

 

 

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" Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man

will not himself find peace. " -Albert Schweitzer