My visit to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, was a dr...

My visit to the Tiger Temple in Thailand, was a dream finally realised!

I was extremely skeptical about this temple at first, after reading very negative reports about the tigers being drugged and abused, but after spending as much time as I did here, and by putting my investigative journalistic skills to maximum use, I discovered these reports were unfounded, and totally false. These tigers are definitely NOT drugged!

The Temple is a Theravada Buddhist temple, located in the Sai Yok district of Thailand s Kanchanaburi province, not far from the border with Myanmar. It was founded in 1994, as a forest temple and sanctuary for orphaned wild animals, including tigers, deer, peacock, hornbills, water buffalo, cows, goats, horses and boars. However, the greatest attraction here is the tigers, with the majority being Indochinese tigers. The original tigers here, had been orphaned newborn cubs, abandoned in the jungles by their mothers, and some of their siblings, eaten up by older tigers.

After a huge lunch of cooked chicken, these beauties are brought to a specially created area within the temple grounds, with soft sand and a large pond, complete with a waterfall, for their afternoon nap. Visitors are allowed to walk them on a leash, into this area.

This is when the tigers are most peaceful, lazy and sleepy, after a good lunch. This is the reason many visitors here think they are drugged, but they are definitely not.

These tigers are quite used to interacting with humans, and couldn't care less for inquisitive visitors like myself, who want to stroke and cuddle them. Many want to be photographed with a sleeping tiger s head on their lap. And tigers are far too lazy and sleepy to be bothered by us. However, they are chained for a while, as a precautionary measure, when human visitors are around, because some tend to annoy them unnecessarily.

The younger ones love to have their bellies tickled, and the moment you approach them, they promptly roll over with all fours in the air (just like my doggies at home do). This is to let you know, it's 'belly scratch time'. They absolutely love this, and fall asleep upside down!

After nap time is over, they are freed from all chains, and allowed to play with each other freely. Humans can watch from within the safety of a huge cage, because when these tigers play, they play VERY rough. This is also how they get their daily exercise.

Several attempts by the Buddhist monks to release these domesticated tigers in the jungles had failed, since many have not survived the harsh conditions of the wilds, and hence unable to fend for themselves. Others, like all domesticated pets, had found their way back home , to the temple.

I was told that approximately 14 metric tons of chicken, are required every month, to feed these tigers. They are also given vitamin supplements and annual medical checkups (This is the ONLY time they are sedated- for the annual medical checkup). Hence, they depend heavily on donations, the fees charged at the gate and other additional fees for various programmes organised for tourists. During the tourist off-season the temple is in the red!

All in all, I left the Tiger Temple happy, and relieved that the horror stories I had read about it, were all baseless and totally false.