A temple is a sanctuary, in this case it extends to Tigers. Here you will find tame tigers that walk around the place free or on leash, cared for by the temple’s monks. In essence, this is a petting zoo with a difference!
Deep in the heart of the Kanchanaburi province in Western Thailand there lies this Buddhist temple. It is the home to monks who spend their time in prayer and meditation and over the last 7 years it has become a sanctuary for tigers.
The monastery took in its first tiger in 1997 when border police brought a young orphaned cub, Athiphat Srimanee and more came in. The temple not only takes in orphaned cubs found by villagers or rescued from poachers at border control, it has now become a conservation project with a breeding programme.
Several cubs have been born at the temple and there are plans for future generations to be returned to the wild.
It gets about 300 visitors a day, up from 200 a day last year. Visitors must pay about $US8 to enter the grounds. At about midday, the tigers are led down to a rock canyon on leashes before being chained to anchors in the ground.
A visitor is allowed to stand behind each animal, pet it, and pose for a shot. For an extra fee a visitor can also sit with the tiger’s head on their lap. In a pocket-sized book, the monastery does provide personality sketches on the tigers, which do include some ‘user beware’ advice.
Though their residences might be cages, the tigers seem to have a trace of peace just like their meditating, keeper monks.
Source: Stuff
