Animal rights charity Girl Freethinker (LFT) has carried out an undercover investigation into the remedy of tigers in Thai zoos, revealing widespread abuse for vacationer selfies. LFT visited 11 zoos throughout Thailand and documented cases of cruelty in opposition to the tigers used as “photograph props.”
The investigation uncovered disturbing practices, together with tigers having lighter flames positioned below their noses to drive them to elevate their heads for photos. LFT claims that this explicit type of abuse has by no means been beforehand filmed. Different cases of cruelty included animals being whipped, tigers, lions, and ligers being tightly chained by the neck to concrete slabs, and tigers stored in barren, concrete enclosures with soiled water.
Nina Jackel, founder and president of Girl Freethinker, expressed shock on the degree of abuse uncovered, stating that that they had not seen abuses of this magnitude earlier than. LFT is now launching a petition urging Thailand to finish the cruelty and has despatched a letter to Thai officers urging a direct ban on pressured photograph alternatives with animals.
The rise of social media platforms and the search for “cute” selfies have been blamed for the elevated international exploitation and cruelty in the direction of animals. Elisa Allen, PETA vp of UK packages and operations, defined that the pursuit of likes and shares on social media has fueled a profitable market of animal abuse. She cited the case of the Tiger Temple in western Thailand, which made hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from ticket gross sales earlier than it was shut down because of allegations of unlawful breeding and trafficking.
Thailand is thought for its captive tiger inhabitants, with the Environmental Investigation Company (EIA) estimating that there have been no less than 1,962 tigers in over 63 services within the nation in 2019. Circumstances just like these uncovered by LFT’s investigation have been described by PETA, with animals used for selfies enduring distressing circumstances and going through dangers of stress, harm, and illness transmission.
LFT’s investigator, who selected to stay nameless for security causes, expressed deep disappointment at witnessing the abuse through the visits to Thai zoos. They acknowledged that the state of affairs was a lot worse than anticipated and believed that the 11 places they visited precisely represented the remedy of tigers throughout the nation.
Whereas there may be rising public opposition to using wild animals for leisure, there may be nonetheless a lot work to be achieved. Elisa Allen acknowledged that the development of taking selfies with tigers stays widespread in Thailand and different components of Asia. Nonetheless, optimistic steps have been taken, reminiscent of journey corporations not selling interactions with wild animals.
In response to the findings, Girl Freethinker and PETA urge the general public to chorus from paying for photograph alternatives with wild animals and to boost consciousness in regards to the cruelty concerned. They emphasize the significance of leaving wild animals of their pure habitats and selling a compassionate strategy to wildlife tourism.
The investigation carried out by Girl Freethinker sheds gentle on the distressing actuality confronted by tigers in Thailand’s zoos and requires rapid motion to finish the abuse. With public consciousness and continued advocacy, there may be hope for a future the place wild animals are not exploited for selfies and leisure.
This article by Trinity Sparke was first printed by OneGreenPlanet on 6 July 2023.
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