A video showing a staff member of a zoo in Thailand repeatedly poking a tiger’s face with a stick went viral on Thursday. The clip shows an attendant at The Million Years Stone Park and Pattaya Crocodile Farm jabbing the animal in the face with a stick, as tourists take turns to pose with the tiger or sit on it.
Edwin Wiek, the founder of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, an NGO for animal rescue and rehabilitation, filmed the video and posted it on his Facebook account. “Today witnessed the ugliness of tourism and wildlife in Pattaya,” he said. “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!”
An unidentified spokesperson for the zoo told AFP that the attendant had been transferred to another job for ill-treating the tiger. “The zoo owner loves animals, and he will not allow staff to hurt his animals,” she said.
Wiek told the agency that tourists should be banned from taking selfies with animals. He warned that such behaviour is risky for the tourists, too. “Every year, hundreds of people are bitten or clawed in similar situations,” he said.
In 2016, the police raided Thailand’s infamous Tiger Temple, a tourist site accused of links to the illegal wildlife trade.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!