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Thailand's infamous tiger temple fights to keep big cats


rooster59

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Keeping tigers in captivity doesn’t have to be cruel - especially in the case of these animals that have never know either the wild or appropriate captive environment.

Firstly tigers are solitary animals; there’s no such thing a a pride of tigers. Most of the time and they need to be housed where they can get out of sight of other tigers. Constant presence of other animals is stressful

They need a proper diet - the monks had some bizarre idea that feeding them boiled chicken made them less aggressive - it certainly may have affected their health as a tiger diet needs to contain large amounts of raw meat to give them the complete diet they would have in the wild. No zoo would feed tigers like the temple does.

Another thing the temple did not address was the tigers’ need to be housed in areas large enough to keep them stress-free; for this they also need stimulation; “privacy”, vegetation and “toys” or other items are needed to keep the tigers active. - Lying in a blank cage - whatever the size - is numbingly boring for any living creature and will result in psychological/behavioural problems e.g. lethargy or repetitive actions such as pacing backwards and forwards. The only attempt made by the temple was to suspend a tire in a tiger’s cage which resulted in the animal hanging itself and dying. Pulling them out of their cages at irregular intervals and chaining them to the ground does nothing for them.

If you look at scientifically run establishments a great deal of effort is made to keep animals unstressed and stimulated within the confines of their enclosures. If the tigers from the temple are housed thus, it will bring about a dramatic improvement in their lives.

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I don't think anyone believes that this temple is a fit and proper place for these animals. As Cumgranosolum states they are fed an inappropriate diet and the conditions they are held captive in are totally cruel and inadequate. Add to that the illegal breeding and mysterious 'disappearances' of some of the animals and you have a situation that is intolerable.

Whatever the answer to the problem, it is going to cost a great deal of money. To construct enclosures that are fit and proper doesn't come cheap. Add to that the cost of upkeep. Imagine the meat bill for over a hundred tigers every day.

Ideally they should all be removed and relocated. DNA tests (more expense) should be done to determine which of the animals are hybrids. Those hybrids should be sterilised and allowed to live out their lives until they die. Pure-breds should have a scientifically controlled breeding programme.

If the Government or any organisation is not prepared to go to the trouble and expense of such an exercise then perhaps euthanasia should be considered. Make no mistake I should hate to see any of these magnificent beasts put down, but to subject them to a lifetime in prison with conditions which amount to animal cruelty, which is worse?

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Must say the point isn't that obvious apart from the fact that all these hybrids are bred in captivity...it doesn't mention any found in the wild.

Granted, but is that any reason to kill them, especially when the numbers are in decline. I would still prefer to see them roaming free than dead.

I don't think many are actually suggesting killing them. What we re trying to do is get across the reality of the situation. "Roaming free", if you mean released into the wild, is not an option due to the potential eco-damage it could cause to the existing wild populations.

There is a lot of stuff known about tiger behaviour in captivity and if properly applied the tigers can be held captive and kept in a reasonably psychologically stable condition. remember that none of these animals has ever been in thw wild or even out of a cage for more than a few hours.

Go back and read Toknarok's first comment, where he suggests euthanasia, which, when I went to school, means kill them. Then read mine where I suggest a "reserve" where they can roam free, where they can be "trained, by food, to remain in a given area, similar to open plain zoos.

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Must say the point isn't that obvious apart from the fact that all these hybrids are bred in captivity...it doesn't mention any found in the wild.

Granted, but is that any reason to kill them, especially when the numbers are in decline. I would still prefer to see them roaming free than dead.

I don't think many are actually suggesting killing them. What we re trying to do is get across the reality of the situation. "Roaming free", if you mean released into the wild, is not an option due to the potential eco-damage it could cause to the existing wild populations.

There is a lot of stuff known about tiger behaviour in captivity and if properly applied the tigers can be held captive and kept in a reasonably psychologically stable condition. remember that none of these animals has ever been in thw wild or even out of a cage for more than a few hours.

Go back and read Toknarok's first comment, where he suggests euthanasia, which, when I went to school, means kill them. Then read mine where I suggest a "reserve" where they can roam free, where they can be "trained, by food, to remain in a given area, similar to open plain zoos.

All I can do is reiterate what I wrote earlier - "I don't think many are actually suggesting killing them."

You need to define "reserve" there are in fact various grades for different types of conservation areas

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I was at a tiger petting place north of Chiang Mai. I wouldn't have gone there, but my hill tribe g.f. at the time insisted. After hanging out with a too-docile female tiger, my gf and I walked off the tourist path. There was a cage with 3 tiger cubs and 3 young Thai workers. A worker would hold a cub from darting away, and another worker would smack the tiger's muzzle with a chopstick. If the cub exhibited its natural response (gnarling, raising its paw) it was smacked again. If the cub acted docile, it was rewarded with tender petting. Obviously, the drill was for the tigers to cancel their nature, and instead become like unresponsive teddy bears - in order to fit in with the sicko tourist biz - to bring in money.

re; the temple: shut down the tiger element. Thais don't know diddly squat about preserving nature.

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there are some very serious conservationists in Thailand with a history going back to the 1980s...logging was stopped and Tiger sanctuary set up....the problem is the lack of real democracy in the country, the grip of nepotism and corruption which leads to people having jobs that they simply aren't capable of doing properly...so when confronted with conservation or environmental problems those in power are simply too ignorant to recognise it. It's frustrating but like the kings new coat, there are ways of getting these folk to do the right thing.

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