Monday, June 6, 2016

Through My Lens



Tiger Kingdom
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Tiger Kingdom is an experience that comes with both joy and concern.  Seeing animals in captivity is difficult at best, but as human habitation continues to take up the land that is habitat for the wild animals  they continue to decrease in numbers and eventually many become extinct.  Tiger Kingdom does not claim to raise tigers to release back to the wild.  Their Tigers are domesticated ... raised by humans and would be unable to survive in the wild.  The money they make from tourist is used to support the tigers and improve their facilities ... though I have to say some of the animals are kept in cages much too small for their needs.  *See the Tiger Kingdom statement at the end of this post.

Over all there were no signs of abuse and the tigers seemed to be content to play with each other or lay quietly while humans snapped photos with them.  It was an endearing experience to be so close to such a majestic animal and yet, I am left with mixed emotions.  Are "zoos" to be the fate of our wildlife and if so what does that say about the human species.  Very discouraging ...


This group of 2 year old Tigers were enjoying the pool and a romp with their peers.










The big pole the trainer is holding has a straw toy on the end of it which the tigers love playing with just as our cats at home play with hanging toys.  




Dominance is a game I see played between my two boy cats at home ... and it seems to be the purpose of the play between these tigers  as well.  




After the cats played for awhile and finally started settling down, we were allowed to go in ...

and get close to the cats ... there are rules for our safety and believe me, we followed them :)

Doesn't he look like he is smiling?






Would that we could share the world with all living kind in a way that nature could reign supreme.  The human species is bent on destroying everything in sight and, at some point, it will be at our own expense.  Greed which seems to be part of the human existence perpetuates this behavior and for those who can't live without having more and more riches (wealth and power),  they will be extinguished with the rest of us ... but they chose this path, we did not.  We are many and they are few, so why arn't we using  our power in numbers to stop their plunder.

Andrea

*Tiger Kingdom Statement:

The Tiger Kingdom is another great combination of tourism with wildlife preservation. The proceeds from tourist visits to the Tiger Kingdom are mainly directed to investments in captive breeding of tigers.
The tiger population in Thailand has been decreasing every year. It’s estimated that only around 120 tigers still inhabit the wild. The projections are more catastrophic. Specialists argue that it’s just a matter of time before tigers are completely extinguished from the wild. As human population grows, areas in which tigers can live freely diminish. Tiger-human contact becomes inevitable and, as a treat to, for example, pastoral communities, tigers are commonly hunted down and killed.
The Tiger Kingdom aims to increase the tiger population through captive breeding. These tigers, however, are not prepared to inhabit the wild and therefore, are fated to remain in captive from birth to death, which, given the current situation, it’s understood to be better than no tigers at all.
Since the tigers have been born in captive and fed a special diet of milk and chicken, they tend to be less aggressive than tigers in the wild. Captive tigers, therefore, can be visited by tourists, who pay a considerable amount of money to spend around 10-15 minutes with them.
The proceeds from tourism allows Tiger Kingdom to increase the tiger population through captive breeding, as well as improve the overall living conditions of the tigers through the acquisition of larger areas for them to roam around. Currently, the Tiger Kingdom has over 100 tigers in captive




10 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

what an experience but i would love to know the 'safety rules'!

Taken For Granted said...

Amazing tiger photos. Wow, how exciting to be that close to these tigers. They are wonderful animals, but I'm right with you on having mixed feelings about having them in cages.

Elephant's Child said...

How very, very beautiful.
Sadly I heard some less than stellar things about Tiger Kingdom over the weekend.
And, like you, I have very, very mixed feelinga about zoos. Why oh why does our greed mean that this is the only place that some species will survive.

Edna B said...

Such wonderful photos of the Tiger. However, I'm not comfortable with our wild animals being kept in cages or confined to small parks. The answer to the problem is simple. Humans need to put a cap on how many babies they can produce, and they need to stop developing all the forests. These beautiful animals were here first. We had no right to take away all their habitat and kill them off (or cage them).

If we stopped spreading out over the land, and curbed the horrendous population increase, we'd all benefit. Of course, that's just my opinion.

We're enjoying a warm day with a wonderful breeze. It feels like Spring and I love it! How is Izzi doing these days? Pogo sends her woofs and a big lick. You have a wonderful day my friend, hugs, Edna B.

The Queen Jester said...

The photos would only half load due to our slow connections, but from what I could see they look very healthy. I was a bit concerned when you mentioned...and then we went in. Yikes. But you are blogging about it, so it must have went well.

The Queen Jester said...

Okay...the photos finally finished loading and holy cow batman! You are petting a tiger! That had to be a heart thumping exciting adventure!

annies home said...

what a great story you shared through your pictures. Loved them all watching the tigers together and wow how peaceful they were with you all
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Kay L. Davies said...

How wonderful to be able to go in with the tigers, even to touch them! I'm amazed.
I agree with you about nature...Man is definitely encroaching on their habitat, and one day many species will be extinct. It is heartbreaking.
Kay

Ida said...

Oh my gosh you were able to go inside and pet them, how awesome is that. They are amazing animals.

Jeanne said...

Great to see how they were playing in the water. Was shocked though to see you in a cage with them petting it. That seems so dangerous with a wild animal like that. Made me think of the guy ( forget his name) who was in a show in Las Vegas with tigers he had worked with for years getting mauled, and nearly dying. He certainly never was the same or in the show again. Glad you are home and not likely to be petting tigers or lions in the chicago area!! bet it was interesting t hough

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