International Law

The temple of tame tigers

By John Hirst

I originally posted this on Nourishing Obscurity this morning. Then I thought what about those who come here for the photos, they might miss this spectacle...

The Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Monastery in Thailand is home to a family of tigers raised by a monk and living alongside human visitors

After poachers killed its mother, villagers brought the first tiger cub to the monastery in 1999

Since then Abbot Chan has created a wildlife sanctuary where tourists can touch resting tigers

There are around 40 tigers in the temple, all of whom have been hand-raised by the monk and have learnt to control their aggressive behaviour

Chan says there is no secret to their friendliness toward humans...

...after four hours of swimming and a good meal of boiled chicken, the nocturnal animals want to sleep through the heat of the day

Tourists can attend, at short distance, the tigers' morning programme which includes exercising their hunting skills in the pool

It is a great tourist spot and a potential death trap, but there have been no accidents yet

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on August 21, 2008 (boomark / email).