Here kitty kitty...(posting from the road)

Well it turns out monks are a very forgiving group and I was permitted to remain at the monastery which is fantastic news because this no ordinary monastery. Just over 10 years ago some tiger cubs were dropped off on the doorstep of the temple after their mother was killed by poachers. The tiger is an important animal in Thai culture, revered really. The decision was then made to raise the cubs…word of this got out and over the years between other “donations” of abandoned cubs and breeding, the facility is now home to 54 tigers. It was simply amazing to see these giant cats behaving exactly like a house cat back home. We took part in the morning training program that includes feeding, bathing and exercising the tigers.

The youngest cubs, just a few days old are off display so we started with the cubs that were 3 weeks old. Argh, our guide, would show us how the tiger cubs would like to play with string – except we had not sting so she used my $50 Exofficio hat. Sure enough these tigers would run and pounce on my hat, each other, anything that was wiggled in front of them. I sat there while one climbed me and snuggled up…it was surreal until the playful little cat nips came very close to my left breast. These cubs would rollover and let you scratch their belly. At this size, they are very manageable.

Next we moved on to the 3 month old. I learnt tigers grow a lot in those first few weeks – I have scars on my right arm to prove it. EXTREMELY playful. They break their biting habits the same way we did with our cats – a stern no and a tap on the nose. The first bite wasn’t so bad, the skin wasn’t broken but there is a lot of jaw pressure and the area is bruised. My upper arm however got it a bit worse, shirt has a few holes in it, skin was broken and there is soft tissue swelling. The little guy just wanted to keep playing and the techniques for getting him to stop were NOT effective – the trainer pulled him off me and he was not allowed to play with any other guests.

Time to exercise the teenagers! The 1 – 3 year old cats were in the temple with us while we played with the cubs. Just like their younger counterparts they enjoy chasing string – however 150 – 300 pound cats are not what you want running around the temple so we had to walk them to a water enclosure. Walking a tiger is a lot like walking a dog, except the tiger could kill you. Our instructions were basically, you do what the tiger wants. If he stops, you stop. If he runs, you run. The stopping I had no problem with. Our tiger ‘Arrow’ got a little frisky at one point and took Christopher and I for a bit of a jog, more of a drag really.

But we made it, all fingers and toes intact to their water/exercise area. What to you use to play with a 200 lb tiger you ask? Plastic bags or burlap sacks tied to the end of bamboo poles. We would dangle these makeshift toys over the water and the tigers jump up to grab them (all plastic was immediately recovered, I saw no tiger ingest anything it shouldn't have). They also amused themselves by fighting and chasing each other. The experience was amazing because they had us right there in the water with the tigers, who were running free all around us - 9 of them. This close proximity is how I became injured, again.

One of the bigger cats leapt out of the water to chase his buddy and landed on my right foot. These cats are not declawed. To make it worse I and the cat were both dripping wet in water that the animals had been swimming in, and it's 35 C out - in other words 'a tiger's claw cut my big toe and it accidentally got washed out with bacteria infested water'. Pretty sure I am going to lose that toe.

After play time we washed the cats with shampoo and fed them a dinner of cooked chicken (cooked to cut down on the spread of disease).

Finally time for the big cats, these are the elderly, 400 - 700 lb cats. Still nursing my wounds from earlier I was relieved to hear that this would be mostly hands off for us. We did get to walk the cats to their water enclosure, with the assistance of a monk (here is where I made other big error...in my excited state, I approached the tiger when told to but to the wrong side...I tried to grab the lead that the monk was holding on to...the quick thinking monk, dropped the lead and backed away from me (women cannot touch monks)...although not personal my ego took quite a beating...so it's better to let the tiger run free then risk possibly bumping into me...).

They locked the guests inside of a flimsy make shift in the center of a huge canyon while 7 huge tigers frolic. (They cage is there more for the peace of mind of the tourists - it wouldn't stop a tiger. Apparently they used to just draw a line in the dirt...equally effective). Watching 600 lb cats jump at least 2 feet vertically off the ground is amazing. We saw them exhibit their natural behavior as they stealthily lowered down in the water to stalk each other. They wrestled with each other for hours.

The grounds open to the general public in the afternoon to come and pose with some of the tigers(proceeds pay for tiger food etc – imagine how much it costs to feed 54 tigers. By this point they have been exercised, fed and are ready for afternoon nap. Getting to pet, play with, feed, bathe and get both bit AND scratched by a tiger will certainly go down as one of my life highlights (well maybe not that last one, my toe is turning black...)

Ka-poon-ka for reading

p.s. Ed - all fingers still accounted for...no guarentee on the toes...

(note - there is a lot of controversy over the tiger temple on the internet. Allegations of poor living conditions, drugged animals and illegal tiger trading are rampant on travel website chat pages. I can only speak to what I saw at the temple I was at (I have heard that there are other, similar establishments) - the tigers were well fed and appeared healthy. They 20+ that I encountered were all very rambunctious with tons of energy. I saw how they were handled as cubs and can understand how they have no fear/apprehension towards humans. Not drugged, cats sleep in the hot afternoon. The only time they have tourists around the big guys is after hours of playing and their meal it's the only time the cats are relaxed enough. As for the illegal animal trading with other temples/tiger farms...of course I have no idea about that. I hope they do some sort of a trade, just like zoos do, to introduce a new bloodline. As for the legality of it?!?! This is Thailand, I haven't seen a whole lot of law at all, I would doubt there are laws to deal with something this specific and quite frankly if they are going to start introducing and enforcing laws I would rather they started with something along the lines of child prostitution before they tackle monks trading tigers. Living conditions for the cats could be way better - they could also be better for the 7 year old shackled to the sewing machine just down the road. Get some perspective. (construction is planned for a new island to be built on the premise for new tigers to learn how to hunt and eventually be released back to the jungle.) Tigers are worth so much money on the black market here (some zoos in S.E. Asia have armed guards watching the tiger enclosures at night) that these tigers might just be better off in the monastery, at least for a little while. Opps got on a bit of a rant there...)