One of the most majestic animals in nature, for me personally, is the tiger! I have always dreamed of touching this animal. Yes, everyone has seen them at the zoo in a cage through the bars, but how does it feel to be on the other side of the bars and inside the cage with the tiger? That’s what I’m going to tell you now.
The “Tiger Kingdom” is located on the island of Phuket, near the resort of Patong. Personally, I have visited it twice. This is a so-called park, where you can see tigers of all ages and sizes. There are several options that you can take advantage of – get a ticket to visit small tiger cubs, middle-aged or already large tigers, as well as a combined ticket for all. After purchasing a ticket, you sign a declaration that during your visit, if you are attacked by any of the animals, the park will not be responsible for it. You also go through instructions on what you can and can’t do, where to touch the animals and how to behave in general.
I have read a lot about this park, as well as about others located in Thailand. And I still read all sorts of things – how sad it was to watch animals in a cage, how they were beaten and tortured, how they were drugged and how this is almost a money-making machine, and that these parks have to be closed!
As far as I know, these parks are also kennels for tigers. Some of the animals born remain in the park, and the others are released into the wild. As I know very well, tigers are an endangered species and I personally admire any initiative to preserve their population!
These tigers, which remain in the park from birth, begin to live with humans – ie. the little tiger is taken care of by a specific person. In this way, from an early age, they get used to people and are brought up and trained. They get their food ready – ie. they don’t have to kill, and over time they lose their killer instinct. It is possible for an animal to hit you with its paw or play with you, but to have a serious accident or attack you without any specific reason is unlikely, unless you give the animal a reason to do so.
МMany people say that these are anesthetized animals, that they put them to sleep and how they will never go to take pictures with an anesthetized big cat! My advice is to go in the early hours – around 9:00 in the morning or around 17:00, when it is not so warm and it is their meal time. Let’s see then how anesthetized these animals are. I apologize, but when it’s 40 degrees – well, I myself do not have the strength and prefer to just lie down and nap. It is quite normal and logical for a tiger that is well fed to be at rest. If you read a little more about these animals you will find that they sleep over 18 hours a day (I want to sleep that many hours too.) and for them this is a normal condition.
During my first visit there, I personally had a story with a tiger lying in a pool of water. He was lying at one corner of the pool and his so-called tutor told me to sit on the edge and stroke him. I did so. The moment I dipped my hand in the water and touched it, he turned to me and sniffed me loudly. At that moment, my blood literally froze and I thought I would be his lunch! Alas, he turned back and continued to doze off.
The very feeling of being so close to this majestic animal is amazing and indescribable! Touching him, grabbing his tail and patting him – you feel as if you have escaped into nature, as if you are the freest person, you are infinitely happy, but at the same time your adrenaline is at its maximum! Whatever I say will not be enough.
I hope that there will be many more such parks in the world, so that everyone can touch these majestic animals, so that their population can be preserved and, above all, so that we can learn, both ourselves and the children to love animals and take care of them because they are our friends!
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