TIGER TEMPLE
The Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand is a popular tourist destination for travellers from around the world. But, what’s the truth behind the famous ‘tame’ tigers?
Temple of Lies The Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand is a popular tourist destination. Every day, large numbers of tourists visit for their chance to get up close and personal with ‘rescued’ tigers. The Tiger Temple website describes itself as a sanctuary that was started when locals brought some orphaned cubs to the temple for care, and the Abbot took them in and cared for them. The website claims that there are 17 tigers at the temple, seven of which were orphans and ten that have been bred on site, but at the time of this report there were 114.
The official Thai Tourist Board leaflet describes the temple as follows: …established in 1994 when villagers saved an orphaned tiger cub and entrusted it to the temple. The abbot adopted the cub as his own offspring, with compassion as the principle. The temple has become a shelter for injured, orphaned, and abandoned wild animals…. the latest figures show that there are now 17 tigers, seven saved from the jungle, and 10 born at the temple.
But…what’s the reality? In 2008, Care for the Wild International released an undercover report called ‘Exploiting the Tiger’. The report used information gathered from a variety of sources between 2005 and 2008 and uncovered disturbing evidence of serious conservation and animal welfare concerns, including: l
Illegal tiger trafficking
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Systematic physical abuse of the tigers
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High risk interactions between tigers and tourists.
In 2013, promoted by a wave of media concerns about the Tiger Temple, we went back to see if things had changed. What we found were three key areas of concern: l
Animal welfare issues There are fundamental animal welfare issues at the Tiger Temple
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Health and Safety Staff, volunteers and tourists are at risk at this attraction
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False Marketing There is no single significant way in which the Tiger Temple adds to tiger conservation
If you love tigers, care about animal welfare and want to be a RIGHT-tourist we recommend that you do not visit Tiger Temple. Read on to find out why...
Love Tigers? Thinking of going to the Tiger Temple? Perhaps you should think again….. Animal welfare issues l
Man-handling Numerous examples of tigers being roughly handled, pulled by the tail and hit repeatedly with thin canes were observed during our visit.
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Inappropriate housing facilities The tiger enclosures are well below internationally recognised size standards and are also totally free of any enrichment for the tigers. At any one time only around 10 tigers are out and about and the others are locked up in their concrete floored enclosures.
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Lack of consideration for the needs of the tigers Our visit showed visibly agitated tigers being sat on, tigers stress panting and tourists irritating tigers who wanted their own space. This is owing to the constant desire to maximise income and serve the large amounts of tourists that visit each day.
Health and Safety
Over exposure to hands-on tourists
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Lack of training and emergency equipment Visitors to the Tiger Temple receive no safety briefing on entering and there are no secure safety zones or refuge areas. Neither staff nor volunteers carry any equipment to suitably deal with emergencies. Likewise, there are no visible panic buttons or alarms, and the nearest major medical facility is around 40km away.
Tourist numbers are large, with almost everyone wanting ‘special’ hands-on pictures and lots taking part in other activities like ‘Cub Exercise Program’ and ‘Breakfast with the Monks’. The tigers have long days of constant forced interaction with no opportunity to opt out or walk away. l
Close contact Tourists are encouraged to touch the tigers, sit within easy biting reach and to walk them on a lead. Although it is claimed that the tigers have a special bond with the monks and are docile in the afternoon, a tiger is a natural carnivorous predator. To the tigers, members of the public will all look, smell and act differently and any fear related dominance bonds built up between staff and tigers will not exist for tourists. Severe safety risks identified are ‘Walking with Tigers’ (free activity) where visitors take hold of a tiger on lead without training, and ‘Cub Exercise Program’ (1000 Baht) where packs of free-roaming juvenile tigers are agitated into highly aroused hunting states directly alongside tourists.
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Safety disclaimer
All visitors are made to sign a disclaimer on entering the Tiger Temple stating that ‘I agree not to hold the temple responsible for any injuries or damages.’ This voids the Temple’s needs for any consideration of health and safety measures - you’ll also find that leading insurers ` will not cover you for the duration of your visit to the Tiger Temple.
False Marketing l
Stay Insured!
Sanctuary, temple, or conservation charity? Although the Tiger Temple bills itself as a sanctuary with a conservation agenda, none of their tigers have ever been released back into the wild, nor can they be under current conditions. There is no evidence to suggest that the Tiger Temple has significantly contributed to tiger conservation in any other way – financially or non-financially.
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Over 100 tigers... not 17 According to staff, there are 114 tigers on site rather than the 17 quoted in marketing materials, and nearly all have been bred on site. The Tiger Temple is not part of any internationally recognised tiger breeding program and no tiger that has ever been raised in captivity in this way and interacted with humans in any way can ever be released into the wild. Therefore, breeding serves no other purpose other than generating profit.
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Can you spare a ‘donation’ for this zoo? The Tiger Temple Foundation is not an internationally recognised conservation NGO and a coalition of the world’s leading tiger conservation organisations and experts have openly condemned the way that the Tiger Temple operates. Yet, all charges are still billed as ‘donations’. It’s also not a sanctuary – international sanctuary standards clearly state that breeding is not acceptable, unless as part of a recognised release program. The Tiger Temple is actually licensed as a zoo.
Did you know that your travel insurance is unlikely to cover you if you visit the Tiger Temple? For any claim you must show that you took all reasonable precautions to avoid injury, loss or damage and that you weren’t ‘wilfully reckless’. This means that should anything happen you will not be covered and will need to pay for your own emergency treatment – including any repatriation to a hospital in your own country.
The rules of Buddhism Buddhism has many guiding principles and is complex but key teachings include the following: Not to speak falsely - the Tiger Temple has a medley of false advertising and false information in all of its materials. Not to accept money - the monks must vow to not accept money, but the Tiger Temple makes an estimated $1m or more profit per year!
The Maths Based on low estimates of just 100 tourists per day, along with 12 people for ‘Breakfast with the Monks’ our calculations show the Tiger Temple has an income of over $1.6 million (USD) per year.
Learn more at: www.careforthewild.com/what-wedo/campaigns/temple-of-lies To watch videos from Tiger Temple, search ‘Care for the Wild Tiger Temple’ on YouTube.
Care for the Wild International 72 Brighton Road, Horsham West Sussex RH13 5BU
After deducting their stated feeding costs, this leaves a surplus of over $1 million per year to cover any additional costs. How much of this surplus is spent on tiger conservation?
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© Care for the Wild International, 2013