Tiger Temple Thailand Saviors Or Savages

The Tiger Temple at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery, Kanchanaburi, Thailand has become a popular tourist destination that attracts hundreds of international visitors each day. The Tiger Temple's success is based around claims that its tigers were rescued from poachers and live and move freely and peacefully amongst the temple's monks, who profess to be actively engaged in conservation and rescue work.Prompted by concerns raised by tourists and Tiger Temple volunteer workers, Care for the Wild International's (CWI) investigation uncovered disturbing evidence of serious conservation and animal welfare concerns, including:- illegal tiger trafficking- systematic physical abuse of the tigers held at the Temple- high risk interations between tigers and tourists and- the unchallenged import and export of at least twelve tigers to and from the Tiger Temple across the border with Laos, without the necessary permits.We express to you our concerns about the high risk interactions between the tigers and tourists, captive breeding and transborder movements, and the physical abuse of the tigers by the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi. And about the facility's claims to support tiger conservation. The Temple facility, has no credible connection with accredited conservation breeding programmes that are deemed to support the survival of wild tigers.The Temple does not have the facilities,the skills, the relationships with accredited zoos, or even the desire to manage its tigers in an approriate fashion. Instead, it is motivated both in display of the tigers to tourists and in its illegal trading of tigers purely by profit.We appeal to you most strongly to remove all tigers from the Tiger Temple and transfer them to a more suitable and safe sanctuary facility, where the animals can be accommodated and cared for appropriately and that will not allow for additional breeding. Care for the Wild International has identified a suitable facility in Thailand and is offering its full support for this operation. We also urge the DNP to conduct a full independent investigation into the illegal breeding and exchange of tigers.We the undersigned, Thank You in advance for your consideration and all your government has already done to safeguard the future of wild tigers.