What do you see in this picture?
You know what I see? I see an American tourist giving in to the exploitation of wild tigers, tigers that are mistreated, mishandled, overfed with the wrong type of food, dehydrated, and drugged out of their minds, all for the experience of "petting" a tiger and having a picture of it. This was taken at Thailand's Tiger Temple, which is just outside of Bangkok. It boasts the experience of petting wild tigers, playing with cubs, and enjoying time with the Buddhist monks that "save and protect" these tigers.
I admit, I did enjoy touching real tigers--it was neat and I'm not going to deny that. But the matter of fact is that this was the wrong way to do it. When I sent pictures to my parents, my dad responded that "it was sad" to see these tigers clearly being used only for photo-ops. And it is, it truly is disgusting and disrespectful to these animals.
The Tiger Temple is a supposed refuge for tigers in Thailand, run by Buddhist monks. Now, I have no problem with monks or Buddhism, but I do take issue with how they treat these animals and the facilities that these tigers are in. When entering the Tiger Temple, you sign a wavier that basically says that you're not going to sue if the tiger bites your arm off. Okay, that's fair. Wild animals are wild animals. They shove a map into your hands with some history of the temple on the back, which tries to tell you that these tigers aren't drugged, but merely "exhausted" in the heat in the afternoon. (Yeah, don't buy into that load of blatant and obvious lying.)
The first thing you notice when you enter the Tiger Temple is the fact that it is not like a temple at all, In fact, there is one building that serves as the meditation place, the rest is a pathetic-looking zoo. (I didn't really see that many monks either.) You walk in the first gates and the overwhelming smell of cow pies assaults your nose. (The temple has some farm animals as well.) As you walk long a dirt path, you enter the main part of the temple. There are small deer, cows, chickens, and a few hogs roaming around. The place looks decrepit and unkempt. I remember being struck by how poor the facilities were. I knew that the temple took in tens of thousands of dollars each year because of tourists and I was saddened to see that there weren't any proper animal-keeping buildings. Maybe I have high standards because of the zoo I grew up going to in Colorado Springs? A zoo that respects and takes care of animals? Yeah, I don't think it's high standards I have--it's moral decency and respect for animals.
The photo-ops with tigers are taken down in a small valley...well, more like a large hole. You walk down and see a dirty and rocky cove, filled with about 15 absolutely high tigers that are chained to the ground. Workers drag tourists around to a few of the tigers, take pictures and move you along. There are some foreigners working there, which I found interesting. I wonder how they really feel about it. Maybe they are trying to help the tigers?
When I got into the cove, a worker grabbed my arm and another took my phone to take pictures. I was pulled from tiger to tiger, barely getting a chance to pet them before being taken to the next one. That picture I have at the beginning of this post? That tiger's head had fallen to the side as it slept and a worker forcibly grabbed its head and propped it up because that looks better for pictures. I was shocked, but I still kept going, caught up in the novelty of touching real tigers. Ugh, what a stereotype I was!
As I left that area of the temple, I looked back at the tigers. Something that I know about tigers is that tigers need water and there was not a single drop to be found. It was very hot in that unforgiving Thai sun that was beating down and I felt for those tigers, felt pity and sadness.
I explored the rest of the temple, nothing was of note. For all of the "fun and cool" things the temple has, it was a huge letdown. There was a cage with a tiger roaming in it, looking rather distressed and, well, peeved (I don't blame him):
Some wandering farm animals:
And nothing else. Just heat, dust, and a grim atmosphere.
There was a cutting and in-depth exposé written in National Geographic about the exploitation of these tigers to supply the black market. Now don't count me as one of those crazy conspiracy theorists that thinks there are shady deals going on behind every routine civil order or tourist trade, but this investigation is legitimate. Southeast Asia deals heavily in the black market for animals, just as the Middle Eats has been a center for illegal antiquities trading. This article garnered attentions from both the Washington Post and USA Today. In fact, there is a very popular blog post entitled "7 reasons to think twice before visiting the Tiger Temple" that is worth a look.
I echo those reasons from that blog: think before you contribute money to a corrupt organization. In a way, I'm glad that I went in order to be able to write this post and add my voice to the voices of those that are calling for the shut down of the Tiger Temple and the confiscation of the tigers to better environments. Now, I realize that the process of relocating 140 tigers to new homes is not an easy or cheap thing to do, but when we as humans are messing about with the lives of wild animals, animals that could have lived in the wild and thrived there, we have the responsibility to make sure they are taken care of. I do not call for the shutdown of the temple as a sanctuary for the Buddhist monks--I have no issues with that, let that be--but as a place to the tigers to be kept. All living things on this planet deserve respect, animal or human.
Do not be like me. Do not fall into the trap of the tourist, going to a place that exploits and mistreats animals for the picture. (Trust me, those pictures won't bring a smile to your face later.) There are wonderful animal sanctuaries that are located throughout the world, including a wonderful big cat sanctuary in Colorado, that have the proper facilities, staffs with fully trained workers and vets that know how to take care of the animals, and aren't banking on tourist dollars. A true sanctuary does it for the animals, not for the money. It is places like those that deserve your money, not the Tiger Temple.
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