Lot's of videos on Youtube I checked the other day if interested. Type Tiger Temple.
Can't post the link (using a proxy server)
There's also: http://www.openworldthailand.com
With 2008 updates
Zen and the Art of making friends with...Tigers
After I've completed the tiger-touching circuit, I sit on a stone bench with the temple's vet and spokesperson, Dr. Somchai Visasmongkolchai, watching the action.
Sitting slightly apart, at a seat by the canyon wall is the Abbot, who, despite ill health, still oversees these daily afternoon encounters.
With his shaved head, ochre-coloured robe and spectacles, he looks more like a scholar than a tiger tamer.
But his unique attitude towards tiger rearing (he believes the tigers are reincarnated monks or family members returning home) has worked thus far – the tigers have never attacked.
It seems unbelievable. So unbelievable that there are rampant rumours that the tigers are drugged – an accusation that Visasmongkolchai hotly denies.
"The only pills they take are calcium tablets from the King's Agricultural Project. The tigers like them because they are sweet."
He bids one of the staff to fetch an unopened package and hands it to me.
"Here try one."
"Oh, er, thanks."
While I don't normally take pills from strangers, I figure the King wouldn't lead me astray, so I pop one in my mouth, feeling only slightly disappointed when I don't get high.
A snarl draws my attention. One of the tigers is acting up, growling and pacing on his chain. The Abbot strolls over and points a shame-on-you finger. The tiger slinks away and lies down.
The Abbot may be a modern-day Dr. Doolittle, but does that mean it's 100 per cent safe?
"Of course not," says Visasmongkolchai. "Animals are unpredictable, and that means danger. But the staff can read the tigers' moods. What is important is to follow the regulations."
Such as don't wear bright colours or make loud noises.
Visitors to the temple must sign a waiver, yet they're still willing to pay a $10 entrance fee to experience this ultimate primal connection.
But what about the tigers? Is this an ideal life?
"It's not perfect," Visasmongkolchai says.
"But what is the alternative? The money for the animals' food has to come from somewhere. When the tigers first came here, they ate vegetable soup."
Ideally, of course, the tigers would be free in the wild, but until Kanchanaburi Province, sharing a long border with Burma (Myanmar), is rid of poachers, this won't happen.
According to the World Wildlife Fund there are as few as 5,000-7,000 wild tigers left worldwide. With pelts going for more than $6,000 and tiger parts prized ingredients in traditional Asian medicine (a penis alone can fetch $800), the population is dwindling.
At the temple, improvements are in the works.
While the existing resident tigers are too tame to be released into the wild, there are plans to create a Tiger Island on the monastery grounds, a five-hectare moated area where they will be able to roam more freely.
The Abbot's ultimate dream is to eventually release the tigers into a wildlife preserve, which well may happen given the government's recent agreement to provide 1,344 hectares of land surrounding the monastery.
After I've completed the tiger-touching circuit, I sit on a stone bench with the temple's vet and spokesperson, Dr. Somchai Visasmongkolchai, watching the action.
Sitting slightly apart, at a seat by the canyon wall is the Abbot, who, despite ill health, still oversees these daily afternoon encounters.
With his shaved head, ochre-coloured robe and spectacles, he looks more like a scholar than a tiger tamer.
But his unique attitude towards tiger rearing (he believes the tigers are reincarnated monks or family members returning home) has worked thus far – the tigers have never attacked.
It seems unbelievable. So unbelievable that there are rampant rumours that the tigers are drugged – an accusation that Visasmongkolchai hotly denies.
"The only pills they take are calcium tablets from the King's Agricultural Project. The tigers like them because they are sweet."
He bids one of the staff to fetch an unopened package and hands it to me.
"Here try one."
"Oh, er, thanks."
While I don't normally take pills from strangers, I figure the King wouldn't lead me astray, so I pop one in my mouth, feeling only slightly disappointed when I don't get high.
A snarl draws my attention. One of the tigers is acting up, growling and pacing on his chain. The Abbot strolls over and points a shame-on-you finger. The tiger slinks away and lies down.
The Abbot may be a modern-day Dr. Doolittle, but does that mean it's 100 per cent safe?
"Of course not," says Visasmongkolchai. "Animals are unpredictable, and that means danger. But the staff can read the tigers' moods. What is important is to follow the regulations."
Such as don't wear bright colours or make loud noises.
Visitors to the temple must sign a waiver, yet they're still willing to pay a $10 entrance fee to experience this ultimate primal connection.
But what about the tigers? Is this an ideal life?
"It's not perfect," Visasmongkolchai says.
"But what is the alternative? The money for the animals' food has to come from somewhere. When the tigers first came here, they ate vegetable soup."
Ideally, of course, the tigers would be free in the wild, but until Kanchanaburi Province, sharing a long border with Burma (Myanmar), is rid of poachers, this won't happen.
According to the World Wildlife Fund there are as few as 5,000-7,000 wild tigers left worldwide. With pelts going for more than $6,000 and tiger parts prized ingredients in traditional Asian medicine (a penis alone can fetch $800), the population is dwindling.
At the temple, improvements are in the works.
While the existing resident tigers are too tame to be released into the wild, there are plans to create a Tiger Island on the monastery grounds, a five-hectare moated area where they will be able to roam more freely.
The Abbot's ultimate dream is to eventually release the tigers into a wildlife preserve, which well may happen given the government's recent agreement to provide 1,344 hectares of land surrounding the monastery.
Gassho
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