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Tigers seized from Tiger Temple after allegations of abuse, animal trafficking

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Y

Yrael

Member
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36414977

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Wildlife authorities in Thailand have begun removing tigers from a Buddhist temple, after accusations of wildlife trafficking and animal abuse.

Three of the 137 tigers at the temple in Kanchanaburi province were moved on Monday. The 1,000-personnel operation will last all week.

The monks, who deny all allegations, resisted at first but gave in when presented with a court order.

The tigers are being taken to animal refuges, authorities said.

The Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple, a popular tourist destination, has for years resisted official efforts to take away the animals.

Visitors are able to feed the animals and take photographs for a fee, despite the temple being banned from charging admission fees or money.

"We have a court warrant this time, unlike previous times when we only asked for the temple's co-operation, which did not work," Adisorn Nuchdamrong, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks told AFP.
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The temple, which allows visitors and tourists to take selfies with the tigers, has been accused of speed breeding tigers for the black market and abusing them. A worker at Tiger Temple was filmed punching a tiger in the face early this year.

There's more information about the controversy surrounding the temple here in this Washington Post article.
 
Y

Yrael

Member
A terrible update - authorities have found 40 dead tiger cubs in a freezer at the temple:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36424091

Forty dead tiger cubs have been found in a freezer at a Thai Buddhist temple accused of wildlife trafficking and animal abuse.

Police and wildlife officials started an operation on Monday to remove all the living tigers at the Tiger Temple.

Pictures from journalists at the scene posted to social media showed the 40 cubs lined up on the floor.

The site in Kanchanaburi is a popular tourist attraction but has been closed to the public since the raid.

Police colonel Bandith Meungsukhum told AFP news agency that wildlife officials would file new criminal charges after the discovery, and added that the cubs were just one or two days old when they died.

He said it was not yet clear how long they had been dead for.

The dead cubs "must be of some value for the temple", Adisorn Nuchdamrong, from Thailand's Department of National Parks, told Reuters news agency. "But for what is beyond me."

Tiger bones and body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Monks at the temple were not available for comment but have previously denied trafficking allegations.
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Dozens of living tigers have already been removed, out of 137 at the temple. The 1,000-strong police operation is due to continue all week.

Some workers and volunteers at the temple spoke out against the operation.

On Facebook, Canadian Gary Agnew, who has worked at the temple for more than a decade, said "the fatality rate could be catastrophic" as tigers were being transported in the heat of day before being fully sedated.

He said the cats were not being moved to spacious surroundings and would be auctioned off for "the highest price". He said hearing the tigers would be moved was "news worse than [staff and volunteers] could have ever dreamed".
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It makes me sick. So many tourists who have been fooled by the appeal of having selfie opportunities with the tigers have funded this place.
 
D

Dead Man Typing

Member
I know someone who had his photo taken with a tiger in Thailand, I guess it must've been there.

Tiger just looked doped up and it was a really sad photo. Don't know why people think it's cool to get so close to an animal that can't even tell you're there.
 
E

Enter The 36 Chambers

Member
Every third girl on tinder had a picture with a doped up tiger back when I was on it.

Students travelling Asia often visited these places.

Always made me a little sick to see it. Humans are such pigs sometimes.
 
A

Aztechnology

Member
What in the fuck.

1.Who the hell punches a tiger?
2. Why does eastern medicine tend to call for so many ridiculous practices that require harvesting of animals?
 
Y

Yrael

Member
Dead Man Typing said:
I know someone who had his photo taken with a tiger in Thailand, I guess it must've been there.

Tiger just looked doped up and it was a really sad photo. Don't know why people think it's cool to get so close to an animal that can't even tell you're there.
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Yeah. :( There needs to be more education about this - people need to be aware of what it is they are supporting when they pay to have these photos taken.

Aztechnology said:
What in the fuck.

1.Who the hell punches a tiger?
2. Why does eastern medicine tend to call for so many ridiculous practices that require harvesting of animals?
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Traditional Chinese medicine holds that ingesting the parts of tigers bestows its strength, vitality and attributes on whoever consumes it. These days the tiger parts are probably more sought after as "luxury" items - an extremely expensive wine made of the ground bones of a tiger is seen as a status symbol of eliteness for the wealthy. The more endangered that wild tigers have become, the more coveted the wine.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
On Facebook, Canadian Gary Agnew, who has worked at the temple for more than a decade, said "the fatality rate could be catastrophic" as tigers were being transported in the heat of day before being fully sedated.
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And those dead cubs were just what, an oopsie?

Edit: Just saw the baby pictures, just inexcusable.
 
O

orochi91

Member
A terrible update - authorities have found 40 dead tiger cubs in a freezer at the temple
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I saw this news early today and was going to make a thread, but got depressed and went to bed.

That's a lot of dead tiger cubs :/
 
V

victreeb3l

Member
Yeah I've seen a bunch of photos of people taking selfies with tigers and shit on Facebook. They had no idea those tigers were abused and drugged (or probably didnt care if they were). Fucking sick.

Fuck these guys.
 
M

Madness

Member
Just disgusting that morons in the world, particularly mainland china think grinding up tiger bones and their penis and shit into balms will cure their aches and pains. Take a fucking tylenol or advil instead and leave what is left of these apex predators in the wild.

I don't even give a shit. Mainland Chinese are singlehandeldy leading and responsible for the trafficking and poaching of so many endangered animals whether it is rhinos for horns, sharks for fins, elephants for ivory, tigers for their skins and bones, etc.
 
D

Deleted member 18827

Unconfirmed Member
I went there about 5 years ago and something seemed suss. They claimed the monks "massaged" the tigers into relaxing but they seemed drugged as fuck.
 
E

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
Fucking superstitious Chinese medicine bullshit.
 
Y

Yrael

Member
Tagyhag said:
And those dead cubs were just what, an oopsie?

Edit: Just saw the baby pictures, just inexcusable.
Click to expand...

Looks like the BBC later removed that Facebook quote from their article and included a new statement from another volunteer - supposedly they were kept frozen to protect against allegations that they were being sold into the black market. I personally have a hard time buying that defence.
 
W

Wyndstryker

Member
No reason to keep 40 dead cubs in a freezer unless you had plans to use them for something.

Good job on the authorities to finally be able to get in there and clean up.
 
G

GaryD

Member
Yeah been there. Amazing being up and close to such a massive animal but its very sad all the same. Hopefully they get looked after.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Yrael said:
Looks like the BBC later removed that Facebook quote from their article and included a new statement from another volunteer - supposedly they were kept frozen to protect against allegations that they were being sold into the black market. I personally have a hard time buying that defence.
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It does sound fishy but is there another reason you would bother freezing them instead of disposing of them or whatever?
 
K

KeyBladerXIII

Member
Get them all our of there. If they can't reintroduce them to the wild, put them in better sanctuaries or the best zoos.

Fucking "monks"...
 
K

killamajig

Member
More bad news...
http://abcnews.go.com/International...uck-carrying-tiger-skins-thai-temple-39549816

Thai police stopped a truck Thursday carrying two tiger skins and other animal parts as it was leaving a Buddhist temple where monks have been accused of being involved in illegal wildlife trafficking, a police officer said.

Soon afterward, authorities found 20 jars containing preserved young tigers at the temple, a national parks official said — a day after 40 dead tiger cubs were found in a freezer at the temple.

Two men in the truck carrying the tiger skins were arrested and charged with possession of illegal wildlife, said police Col. Bandith Meungsukhum. He said a monk traveling with them will be arrested once he is defrocked.
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Y

Yrael

Member
National Geographic has an extensive report on this.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...thailand-wildlife-trafficking-buddhism/#close

According to the Thailand wildlife deputy director, the cubs had been dead for no more than two days, which goes against the temple's claims that they'd been kept there since 2010.

This is alarming:

A discovery by investigative reporter Andrew Marshall published by the Sydney Morning Herald may offer a clue as to why the investigation has dragged on: In 2010, he learned that the Tiger Temple had recently donated 700,000 baht (then worth $23,490) to Thai police and soldiers. The former Kanchanaburi police colonel, Supitpong Pakjarung, is now vice president of the Tiger Temple Foundation and manages a new entity, the Tiger Temple Company Ltd., that the monastery has created as part of a plan to build a zoo.
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The Thai government’s move against the temple doesn’t necessarily mean that the Tiger Temple will be out of the tiger tourism business. In April the wildlife department granted a five-year zoo license to the new Tiger Temple Company Ltd., the entity the temple created last year.

The wisdom of granting a zoo license to an entity that has been linked to allegations of illegal wildlife trafficking has been widely questioned. But the wildlife department's Tuenjai said that because no one from the new company has been convicted of a serious crime, there was no legal justification to reject the application.

The license means that the Tiger Temple Company might be able to buy back up to 50 of the seized tigers at public auction if its proposed $3.4 million zoo is ever completed. A zoo license also would allow the temple's new business to legally breed tigers.
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Several people have now been charged with wildlife trafficking, and if they're convicted then the temple's zoo licence will be taken away and they won't be able to buy back the tigers. It's extremely concerning though that the rescued tigers could even be up for a public auction in the first place! An Austrian organisation called Four Paws is trying to get the 137 tigers moved to a proposed new sanctuary.
 
Darren870

Darren870

Member
I never understood why people went to this place. Doesn't anyone do any research where there money is going or is it just about the stupid photo.

Actually... why did I even ask.

Makes me sick to my stomach. Can't believe people pay money to pose or see abused animals.
 
B

Brutalitops

Banned
Darren870 said:
I never understood why people went to this place. Doesn't anyone do any research where there money is going or is it just about the stupid photo.

Actually... why did I even ask.

Makes me sick to my stomach. Can't believe people pay money to pose or see abused animals.
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You are holidaying in another country and you see a big zoo with tons of tigers and notice you can get a photo taken.

A vast, vast majority wouldn't think beyond that and nor should they have to. This is not the fault of those who just wanted a picture.
 
S

Subpar Scrub

Banned
Awful, but not surprised about the mention of deals with police. Thai police are corrupt as fuck.

Hope the guilty spend many many years in jail for this.
 
Darren870

Darren870

Member
Brutalitops said:
You are holidaying in another country and you see a big zoo with tons of tigers and notice you can get a photo taken.

A vast, vast majority wouldn't think beyond that and nor should they have to. This is not the fault of those who just wanted a picture.
Click to expand...

Ignorance isn't an excuse. I've been to Thailand, I've known of this place for years.

Posing with an animal that's chained up and drugged. Fucking please.
 
B

Booser

Member
I feel sick i gave these bastards money a few years ago and contributed to the problem.

We all got a weird vibe off the place, but still went along with the whole "you're in Thailand you gotta take selfies with a tiger!!" Nonsense. Should have known better really.

My only hope is the remaining tigers are cared for properly.
 
Y

Yrael

Member
It just keeps getting worse. Authorities have found a suspected slaughterhouse about 30 miles away from the temple, following a tip-off:

Authorities with Thailand’s crime suppression division believe they have discovered a tiger slaughterhouse and holding facility used by the popular tourist destination Tiger Temple, which is now under investigation for illegal wildlife trafficking. Thai police captured and relocated 137 live tigers from the temple’s facilities during a raid last week.

The residential property, located approximately 30 miles from the tiger “sanctuary,” was raided by officials today who acted on a tip, according to The Guardian. Police identified animal transport equipment, freezers, tiger food storage, a large chopping block, and a multitude of knives inside the isolated house.

“We believe it was used by the Tiger Temple to hold live tigers before slaughtering them for their skins, meat and bones to be exported outside the country, or sent to restaurants in Thailand that serve tiger meat to tour groups,” police colonel Montri Pancharoen, deputy commander of the crime suppression division, told The Guardian.

Four live tigers, ranging from one to 10 years old, were also located in cages on the Muang district property. Police questioned two keepers on site who said the animals belonged to the 68-year-old property owner, Thawat Khachornchaikul, according to the Bangkok Post.
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http://motherboard.vice.com/read/su...r-tiger-temple-discovered-by-thai-authorities

The abbot is blaming everybody but himself:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1005985/tiger-temple-abbot-blames-subordinates-officials
 
I

InfiniteBento

Member
Although this is tragic, I'm glad they are raiding them and removing all the tigers now. This is a step in a very positive direction despite how long it took for this to happen.

I'm hopeful the tigers will now live a far better life than what they were abused for.
 
Y

Yrael

Member
Kurdel said:
What kind of sick motherfucker would eat Tiger?
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Tiger meat is sold to tourists (mainly from China) because it is unusual and exotic (and many believe it has medicinal/aphrodisiac properties). In the case of many wealthy businessmen and officials, tiger meat and tiger bone wine are consumed as a display of wealth and power.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...menu-for-chinese-tourists-in-laos-says-report
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...igarchs-secretly-love-illegal-tiger-meat.html
 
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