It is almost a tradition to snag a selfie with a wild animal when you’re in Thailand.
A tradition that is downright wrong, if you ask me, especially when the animals are living in abysmal conditions such as tiny living spaces and improper diet.
Just last year, the dark underbelly of the famous Tiger Temple which had been accused of mistreating the tigers was exposed—Thai authorities found 40 tiger cub carcasses inside a freezer alongside tiger parts such as fangs and skins.
Once again, Thailand’s animal tourism industry is under scrutiny.
The poor tiger
On 18 December, founder of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, Edwin Wiek, posted a heartbreaking video on his Facebook—a tiger in Pattaya Zoo being poked by a zookeeper while tourists take turns posing with it.
Today witnessed the ugliness of tourism and wildlife in Pattaya; this tiger gets poked all day, hundreds of times a day so it will roar for the picture with tourists. Time for a change of laws! Sharing this in advance of Thai National wildlife day on December 26th.
Posted by Edwin Wiek on Monday, 18 December 2017
His caption read: Today witnessed the ugliness of tourism and wildlife in Pattaya; this tiger gets poked all day, hundreds of times a day so it will roar for the picture with tourists. Time for a change of laws! Sharing this in advance of Thai National wildlife day on December 26th.
With about two million views and 29.6k shares as of writing time, the video went viral.
A spokesperson for the zoo told AFP that the aforementioned zookeeper had been transferred to another job over the incident.
WHAT?!
WHY ISN’T HE FIRED?
WHICH ANIMAL IS HE GOING TO TORTURE NOW!?
“The owner he loves animals and he will not allow staff to hurt his animals” she added.
Yeah, I am sure.
The barbaric animal tourism industry in Thailand
The Pattaya zoo’s website advertises a daily show featuring a man fighting bare-handed with adult crocodiles, Channel NewsAsia reported.
WHAT THE…
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Edwin Wiek also mentioned that the taking of selfies with wildlife should be stopped completely as such behaviour is also risky for humans.
“Every year hundreds of people are bitten or clawed in similar situations,” he added.
The aforementioned video was shared by Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand and the caption read:
“We will be creating campaign videos regarding the treatment of animals in the tourism industry here in Thailand. This is an example of how tigers are treated so idiotic tourists can get their holiday selfie.”
Let’s just hope that this incident ignites a wave of awareness—the demand stops when the supply stops.
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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com
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Featured image: AFP/Edwin Wiek
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