These tigers are forced to live in inhumane conditions in addition to being forced to do dangerous fire tricks.
This is life at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, in Pattaya, Thailand, home to tigers and other animals who are trained to perform unnatural tricks — and in the process face unimaginable cruelty. In fact, it would be impossible for wild animals, such as tigers and elephants, to "learn" the tricks without beatings or physical abuse.
Living conditions at the zoo are also crude: A 2010 report by World Animal Protection (WAP) found that 99 percent of captive tigers in Thailand lived in "inadequate or severely inadequate conditions."
"[The report uncovered] severe welfare concerns across all tiger entertainment venues," Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach, a WAP senior wildlife and veterinary adviser based in Bangkok, tells The Dodo.
Adam M. Roberts, CEO of Born Free USA, echoes that statement.
"I revisited the [Sriracha] zoo in 2013, and it remained deplorable with multiple tigers in a single exhibit," Roberts tells The Dodo. "Enclosures are small and have concrete flooring and bars. Multiple tigers in the cement water pool led to animals fighting. It is absolutely unacceptable."
Roberts first visited Sriracha in 2004, and at the time described the "debilitation and fear" of the animals:
All of the animals awaited their turn to perform in a gated tunnel, keepers constantly poking them with a steel pole through the iron mesh. The animals in the show were smacked in the face with the pole fairly regularly and most seemed to have drastic weakness in their hind legs. It was a painful display to watch.
A video posted to YouTube in 2013 shows some of the tigers whose enclosure is a sort of shooting gallery: The animals languish on the concrete while the tourists shoot "guns" at pieces of metal strung high above the tigers. There is a constant clinking from the pulling of the triggers. Occasionally a visitor hits one of the targets, and a piece of food falls into the tigers' pit.
Roberts says there are likely between 400 and 500 tigers at Sriracha, but there may be additional animals who are not on display and used for breeding and shows.
And WAP has previously estimated that as many as 100 tiger cubs could be born at Sriracha each year.
Sadly, the cruelty is not limited to tigers. The elephants housed at the zoo also undergo barbaric training in order to learn absurdly unnatural tricks — like riding a bike.
