THAILAND: THAI TEMPLE FAMOUS FOR OWNING 7 TAME TIGERS DEFEND THEIR RIGHT TO CARE FOR THE TIGERS FOLLOWING ACCUSATIONS OF EXPLOITATION

Record ID: 839150

  • Title: THAILAND: THAI TEMPLE FAMOUS FOR OWNING 7 TAME TIGERS DEFEND THEIR RIGHT TO CARE FOR THE TIGERS FOLLOWING ACCUSATIONS OF EXPLOITATION
  • Date: 6th February 2003
  • Summary: (LIFE!3) KANCHANABURI PROVINCE, THAILAND (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) EXTERIOR OF TIGER CAGE WITH ABBOT POOSIT KHANTIDAROO IN FOREGROUND TIGER WALKING INTO CAGE VARIOUS OF TIGER BEING WASHED BY KEEPER TIGER WALKING BESIDE MONK MONKS FEEDING TIGER CONDENSED MILK TABLETS STORM AND LIGHTNING (SEVEN YEAR OLD MALE TIGERS) WALKING WITH MONKS STORM DRINKING OUT OF WATER
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KANCHANABURI PROVINCE, THAILAND
  • City:
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAWO7RV1QTLH2YU0DNZMBKUZS7
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A Thai temple famous for owning 7 tame tigers is defending its right to care for the animals following accusations the animals are being exploited for the monks' financial gain.
    Most seven-year-old boys are reluctant when it comes to taking their daily showers. But when the grumpy youth in question is Storm, a seven foot tiger, most people would be happy to let him have his way.
    For the monks at Luangtabua forest monastery however, chasing Storm around his cage while wielding nothing more than a hose and an industrial sized bottle of shampoo is part of the daily routine.
    Luangtabua, in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, has seven tigers living under its care, eating their way through three jumbo bags of dog food every day.
    The tigers originally came to the monastery as cubs and are now effectively domesticated.
    The monastery first made headlines two years ago, when both national and international press swarmed to the temple to film the strange sight of Buddhist monks play-fighting with, petting and even riding seven seemingly tame tigers.
    Since then the temple has become a popular tourist destination, with hundreds of people flocking each week for the rare opportunity to get up close and personal with animals that are usually only seen behind bars at a zoo.
    "I came because it's a once in a lifetime chance...but it was scary at first," said Nadine, a traveller from Leeds, after accompanying the tigers on their daily walk through the temple grounds.
    On arrival, visitors would be forgiven for thinking they had come to a zoo rather than a monastery, as the monks care for a diverse menagerie which includes barking deer, horses, wild boar and gibbons.
    Most of the animals roam freely around the compound and will eagerly approach visitors, particularly those carrying bunches of bananas which can be bought at the gate.
    According to Buddhist beliefs and Thai law, temples are protected areas where the killing or hunting of animals is illegal, which makes them an ideal sanctuary for protected species.
    It is in this way that Poosit Khantodaroo, abbot of the temple, explains the arrival of the tigers when they were cubs.
    It is likely that they were orphaned, their mothers killed by poachers hoping to cash in on the widespread belief in the magical properties of tiger fangs and bones.
    "People from the local villages brought the cubs to us for protection, and we have been looking after them ever since,"
    Poosit said.
    But the temple has come under fire from some animal rights groups in the country, who say that the monks are exploiting the animals for financial gain.
    With around 30 visitors a day, each giving a minimum donation of 100 baht (2.41 US dollars), the tigers have become effective money makers.
    "I question their motives. They say that they are a tiger conservation centre, but I see no evidence of that. Just keeping tigers doesn't mean conservation. I would like to see some type of public education system, or something like that"
    said a representative of the Wildlife Fund Thailand.
    While experts admit that the tigers are too domesticated to be let into the wild, questions have been raised over what will happen to any cubs that are born.
    Although there are four male and three female tigers, so far they have not bred, which is common amongst animals kept in captivity. However, Abbot Poosit said that he would try to give any offspring to a wildlife organisation.
    "We cannot release this group but their offspring we're definitely going to release and make it a project to release them. But this group we cannot release, because they can't get food for themselves so they would end up attacking people.
    And if they were attacking people, because they are tigers, people would kill them".
    Tourists visiting the temple showed a mixed response to the issue of the tigers' care.
    "They've supposedly been brought up since cubs so I think...I think they might be scared if they've been brought up together, like with the monks as well," said Nadine in reply to questions on whether the tigers should be released.
    But another British visitor, Kevin from Essex, thought it was unnatural for the animals to be kept in captivity.
    "It would be better for the tigers if they could be released into the wild...their own habitat"
    For the moment, it seems that the temple will be allowed to keep its unusual residents.
    Abbot Poosit, who was born in the year of the tiger, has a strong response to those hoping to move the animals.
    "They want us to return the tigers. But who are we going to return them to? They have to understand that we raised the tigers with good intentions. If they can care for the tigers better than we can then we would give the tigers to them.
    We're not possessive. But if they can't take care of them better than us then please don't take them away. Because we have raised these tigers with great love".
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