I?m not the type of person who takes western values and uses them to judge eastern societies but the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo in Thailand is absolutely disgusting by anyone?s standard. I?m not an animal lover or by any means an animal rights activist and I thought I saw it all when I visited a zoo in China but Sri Racha Tiger Zoo takes the cake.
Before visiting, I?ve heard stories of people loving it or hating it; loving it because they sell adorable pictures of tourist holding baby tigers, or hating it because it’s poorly maintained with tiny animal holding areas. I can handle animals living in these types of environments?after all, they?re animals and I?ve seen many human beings living in worse comparable conditions.
However, the Sri Ratcha Tiger Zoo goes one step beyond substandard living conditions. Tourists who enter immediately encounter the weirdness of the zoo, with tigers, pigs, and dogs all in the same exhibits. The zoo?s management claims they have succeeded in using their unique breeding technique in raising tigers that do not attack?but in reality their tigers are so drugged up and out of their natural environment they don?t know what?s going on. If the tourist continues on they come along another tiger exhibit, this time with two African people wearing barbaric looking cloths caged up along side tigers. The implication is obvious and wouldn?t be tolerated in America, but what?s management thinking, is this suppose to be funny?
Anyway, the zoo also appears to breed alligators to be killed for their skin and also features pig races and the scorpion queen. 300 baht will buy you a ticket, but do you really want to give your money to such a poorly managed establishment?