Sign Petition to Stop Owners of Horrific Tiger Temple From Opening Another Zoo!

Do 20 dead baby tigers floating in jars of formaldehyde, 40 more tiger cub carcasses packed in a freezer, and “a cache” of tiger body parts sound like Conservation to you? How about tigers kept in solitary confinement and tiny cages, or tigers being prodded, beaten, and mishandled for tourist selfies? Of course, none of this comes close to defining Conservation, and yet Tiger Temple Thailand, where these atrocities took place and where these bodies and parts were found (during a raid by Thai authorities, no less), claimed tiger rescue and Conservation as its primary goals. In fact, tiger farming and exploitation offer more fitting descriptions of the place’s daily practices. Thankfully, Tiger Temple Thailand was shuttered following that raid, but a new endeavor set to open right next door hints at eerily similar motives, this time referring to itself as a “tiger zoo.”

Golden Temple, as the new initiative has been named, has already been issued a provisional zoo license by the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP). To be fully licensed as such, Golden Temple must conform to certain animal welfare standards. For example, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries: Standards for Animal Care of Felids requires that permanent enclosures housing two tigers must reach at least 1,200 square feet. As such, Golden Temple must provide more adequate space than the 122 square feet that Tiger Temple Thailand offered its captive tigers. And that may be the only advantage that Golden Temple tigers gain in the new facility.

As World Animal Protection argues, Golden Temple’s zoo license would still permit tiger breeding and tourist interaction, which lead to extreme tiger oppression at Tiger Temple Thailand.

Tiger Temple Thailand actively maintained its own tiger breeding program. Under the facility’s care, newborn cubs were taken from their mothers at just three weeks old. Once they reached adolescence, they were kept isolated and confined for up to 24 hours a day, except when used as selfie props for tourists. As wild predators, tigers aren’t prone to remain calm while being prodded and mishandled by curious tourists (and indeed, there were incidents of tigers attacking tourists at Tiger Temple Thailand), so bamboo sticks became the trainers’ weapon of choice. Food and water deprivation was another backward tactic commonly used to control and “train” these majestic animals to behave during public engagements.

Under current law, Golden Temple would be permitted to carry out these same abuses. In fact, aside from the size of the tigers’ enclosures, there could very few differences between these two operations, and it’s up to us to stop these injustices from continuing to take place.

Sign this petition and demand that Golden Temple’s zoo license be withheld. It took a very long time to get Tiger Temple Thailand shut down, so our best hope for helping the tigers destined for Golden Temple is to stop the new facility in its tracks before it is allowed to open as planned.

Image source: dptro/Shutterstock