PS - the instructions issued at the place are really a joke - they are the sort of comments that a Barnums show would make to keep the audience "on the edge of their seats" they have little or nothing to do with real safety or behaviour of the tigers as the monks have little or no idea them selves.
So as I said be very careful about safety there.

We had an unbelievable time there with Tong. We even got to lie down next to one of the big males who was sleeping on his back (exactly like our cats do when they are full and in the warm sun). The feeling of his body, the warmth, the muscles, the beating of his heart is something I will never forget. I didn't see any abuse of the tigers (with the possible exception of one of the monks putting a hat on one of the tigers who looked a bit put out, but took it in stride). We got there early thanks to Tong and got to hold and play with some of the babies (one even pooped on me!). Walking with the tigers was fine, but it was when we were down in the canyon with them and holding their heads in our laps that we really felt like we were with them. Are they sedated? Maybe, but it was also warm and sunny and they had just eaten, so they might have also been sleeping like cats do. And I never felt threatened or in danger, but being aware of your surroundings is probably a good thing.

Good news bad news.

Bad news - Thailand's population of Tigers in the wild is about 150 to 200. THese mostly live in western Thailand and are on the borders (Tigers unfortunately don't seem to know what country they are in).

Good news - a newly discovered population in Eastern Thailand has been sighted. So far about 12 animals have been identified.

Bad news - as soon as poachers find out where they are, they'll try to catch them as their carcasses are worth 10s of thousands of dollars.

Good news - conservationists (and hopefully police too) are on the look out.

Bad news - the maximum fine for poaching is only 1500 dollars (equivalent)

More bad news - any of you who think that by visiting the Tiger Temple your are helping the plight of tigers either in the wild or captivity you are mistaken. THe undocumented (and illegal) breeding program and the nature of their care there means that they can not only not be released into the wild, but their gene-pool is of no use as it is suspected they are hybrids and would actually harm the gene-pool of the sub-species in Thailand if they came into contact with any wild animals.

Good news - more and more people are becoming aware of the damaging effects of the Temple and several other Tiger Zoos" in Thailand. The "zoos" are in fact FARMS - these animals are bred to sell as parts in folk-"medicine" - the biggest client being the nouveau-riche of China.
Far from reducing the risk to tigers in the wild, this kind of farming increases the market for poached animals too.
several tigers are believed to have "gone missing" from the Tiger temple to be replaced by animals with the same name (quite apart from those bred at the Temple). Where and why these animals have gone must lead one to suspect that the temple is involved in trading the tigers - if so WHERE and for what purpose?

If you do visit the temple - research first - read up and then when you are there, look around and think about why those animals are there.

As I was about to say - there are some pretty dog safety issue at this place. On one visit a small foal broke loose and cantered down towards the the tigers. THe reaction of the tigers was immediate and disturbing. They all immediately focused on this animal and were obviously getting ready to pound if the opportunity presented itself. The Minders all set about restraining the animals and shook-ing away the foal. THe atmosphere was electric - you could see the worried faces of the minders and the other attendants running around. I think many were unaware of the potential pandemonium that was unrealised that time.

The people who look after these animals are not trained properly - they get their advice from the monks who know little or nothing themselves and if a serious incident did kick off there is little or nothing anyone can do ...nor are there any professional animal handlers to sort it out either.

Most of the tigers at the time were chained to the ground - what the chains are attached to is unclear - they are fastened to something beneath the dry earth - presumably a block of concrete. However these animas are arranged so that people can come very near or even into contact with them. Tigers are very unpredictable and in a situation as described above their reaction to anything close to them could have been quite deadly.

I think it is very unlikely that this kind of casual handling of the animals would e permitted in most countries.....this is quite apart from the ethos o the place which have to be regarded as extremely dubious

So is it safe to say - if you opt to go to the Tiger Temple, or any of the tiger shows, you are part of the problem?

It is safe to say that the more attention given to the temple, pro or con, means more business and further expansion.

I think the more is said about the temple the more people who never thought about it will realise there is a vast body of opinion that considers the place to be a sham and a con. If they then go they may well look at the place more critically than they would have otherwise.

PS - the Abbott seems to think that poking tigers in the testicles is an acceptable practice......I'd beg to differ

As someone who just "volunteered" there for 18 days to discover my own truth about Tiger Temple this past August, I agree with both JapanKim and Khunwilko. There are a number of problems with Tiger Temple, even omitting the drugging issue (which can't be substantiated unless you are a true insider or medical examiner and have complete access), the temple's claim that it is a conservation is false. This does nothing to help tigers in the wild which have a dwindling population of only 3,200 left (WWF). The money raised via "donations" first and foremost goes into building a huge new Vatican like temple out front, yet in the same breath the temple says they cannot afford to give the tigers red meat (which contains taurine, an essential muscle building nutrient). Their vision of releasing the tigers someday and re-training them for the wild is ridiculous and has never been achieved by experts in other species. As per the actual experience, yes, it is frustrating to see some of the staff "tease" the tigers. It also by and large feels like a circus, and most def. a tourist trap. I did a 8 post experience of it for my website, but couldn't stay longer because the place felt unholy to me.

http://www.aroundtheworldin80jobs.co...ng-experiment/

If you are looking to participate in a positive animal conservation project, I highly suggest checking out Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai.

http://www.aroundtheworldin80jobs.co...s-in-thailand/

The elephants there are rescued elephants from the logging and tourism industries and all proceeds go back into the project and elephants. The owner, Lek, is an absolute champion of a human being. If you start doing some good searching via Google you will see pretty much every travel blogger who is on the ball is behind this organization. (I would know as I just got them a $50,000 donation this summer).

They also have other projects around Thailand if you are not in Chiang Mai that they can recommend - SaveElephant.org - can sort you out.

Enjoy the land of smiles.

Turner

Not on a bet . . .

I've seen films of this facility. Having lived with over 30 felines in my life, these tigers are definitely drugged. If Inyanked the tails of my domesticated house cats, I'd get nipped or scratched. These supposedly wild animals are in a stupor.

It's a chance to get close to big cats, but what does your money support?

Don't Do It!

I noticed recently that a volunteer blogged recently that the temple has a number of tigers they label as "man-haters" - it would be nicety know what happens to these animals. Presumably they rare kept permanently caged?

You also need to be aware that the Temple is still implying conservation credentials on it's web site - these are totally false.

anyone who is its the place needs to be well informed on tigers, animal husbandry and the conservation issues involved in keeping tigers.
the breeding program is illegal.

Here's the volunteer's observations.
One thing I found particularly disturbing is the idea that some Tigers are "man haters" - so how are they contained?

http://www.aroundtheworldin80jobs.co...ng-experiment/

Glad to see there has been a turn around on the majority of opinions of this horrible place. No way would I ever encourage people to frequent this place.

I'm still amazed that despite all the lowdown on the place, many people don't seem to grasp the basics of ecology, wildlife conservation etc to realise what a sham the place is.........it isn't rocket science.

Most people, as indicated by the posts above, are completely clueless about conservation issues and animal cruelty. Perhaps it is mere ignorance or perhaps they simply don't care. The Tiger Temple is an affront to conservation, the plight of the tigers and is simply a small sample to the horrors many species face here and in other places. The sooner people stop supporting this awful place the sooner it will go out of business.

coke - will there be more or less tigers in the world if the temple go out of business?

Hi Hanuman. I would say more. Closing such a place would be possibility indicative of an increased societal awareness of the plight of tigers and other large predators and their habitats. I've seen such things coincide with other actions that help the species in question. I could evision a ruling that shuts this atrocity down being tied together with a ruling that makes penalties and enforcement of tiger part trade more intense, eventually steming the tide...Thailand is perhaps the world's largest collecting depot for tiger parts, much of which of course is heading to China, but Thailand is a major (if not THE major) link in the supply chain...

Better enforcement, habitat establishment, more patrols, more education of the need for top carnivores in the ecosystems our wild areas.....I know, some might call this wishful thinking but it's all we have. IT's all the tigers have. When I was in college, there was probably reliably 5000-7000 left in the wild. Now there is less than half this and the numbers are decreasing every single day. Just in the last month I have personally met with Bruce Kekule and Alan Rabinowitz, two of the world's leading experts in the tiger issue and their news was grim indeed. And I even spoke of the Tiger Temple with them and....well I suppose one could imagine what was said.

Just last year alone a man killed FOUR tigers in Khao Luang NP down in Nakhon Si Thammarat province - he was my neighbor (figuratively(! The researchers had no idea there were even four left there! And now they are dead...

The Tiger Temple only makes a mockery of such a magnificent predator. Druging these animals (and nobody even bothers to deny this anymore - it's fact)is abuse and continuing this practice is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is the potential lethal danger to tourists. Supporting this activity with one's own tourism cash is making one part of a very serious problem....And who knows if the accusation is true or not that the temple feeds the tiger part market by killings its "man haters" and selling to China....

So having more tigers in number, simply by piling them in a quarry, stoned out of their minds, does nothing for the conservation of the species at all. And I would go so far to state that it does nothing for the quality of life for the individual tigers either. Those tigers are long past being released in to the wild but they should be allowed to spend their remaining days in a facility focused on conservation and preservation of the species - not one making a mockery of the Buddhist religion (I say this as a Buddhist myself)by generating who-knows-how-much money to build guilded salas and feed a corrupt money making machine. Just my humble opinion....

coke, you have described the tiger's plight so very well. If a few people read your words and are educated, then your time was well-spent, indeed.

Sorry to see that Fodorite favorite Tong is still advertising tours to this temple. Perhaps some Fodorites who have traveled with her can suggest that she drop it....

Good point Coke but sadly I see more and more tiger petting zoos throughout the country and alarmingly in other parts of the world. I guess unless people are willing to return land to the wild or the animal's natural habitat it will be hard for the tigers and other wild animals to recover.