Taxi Chiangmai: Patrick 081 617 2116 Oversea Call: +66 81 617 2116 E-mail: neomart@gmail.com
Round Trip to Tiger Kingdom: 600 Baht car/driver/gasoline
Recommend: Elephant show + elephant riding through jungle and stream to 7 hilltribe village (including Long neck karen) + monkey show + Orchid/butterfly farm and lunch buffet at Tiger Kingdom, a day program about 6-7 hours
Fees: 2,450 Baht per person for 2-3 person (if one person = 4,900 Baht) including air-con car/English speaking driver/gasoline/ticket for Elephant show/Elephant ride/hilltribe/monkey show/orchid n butterfly and Lunch buffet
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I went to Tiger Kingdom today and as an animal lover really hoped that it would be a place that treated the animals correctly. I wasn't disappointed.
When you first enter you need to decide what sort of entry ticket/package you would like. I ended up paying 1660baht to visit the big, small and smallest tigers, with photos in two of the pens. I was travelling by myself, which is why I got a photographer, but you are welcome to take your own photos.
I went to the 'smallest' tiger pen first. There were 5 tigers about 3-4months old. Some were asleep or dozing and didn't mind the keepers positioning them for photos, whereas a few were very active and playful. Cheeky even. When you look into their eyes you can tell they are definitely not drugged, they are just simply used to human contact having being bought up in captivity. They still play fight between them and chase or hide from the keepers when they want to be naughty. The keepers here were really friendly and they also had a laugh at the funny things the cats would do. Yes, the pen isn't that big, and this one was concrete. But I'd assume that they are not kept here all time.
Next the same photographer came with me to the big tigers. These were cleary more docile than the smaller cats, just lazing around and lying down. I can see why people may think they're drugged as they are very inactive, but if you look into their eyes you can tell that they aren't, they're simply used to all the fuss and are generally disinterested. These cats know that the tourists aren't going to feed them so they have little motivation to run around in the heat. Completely normal behaviour. If the keepers try to attract the tigers attention, they are doing it for your benefit. I didn't see any keepers act in a way that looked as if it caused pain to any tiger.
My third cage was the 'small' tigers. This was probably my favourite and I probably should have gotten photos in here as the tigers were 6 months, all brothers and sisters (four of them) and very active and playful, in a garden setting with a small pool. They splashed around in the pool and play fought with each other which was really cute to watch. They would stalk around the yard and sneak up on the keepers and then run away. And also climb the big log in the pen. Very funny to watch when the tigers jump between logs and miss and the keepers have to help them find their feet.
Lastly you can walk around at your leisure while you wait for your CD of photos. There were some newborns but the enclosure was mostly closed which was a shame. You can get really close to all the big cats, although resist putting your fingers in!
Overall a great morning. I'm really glad I did this, I don't think the animals ate drugged at all, they're well looked after and I believe the keepers really look after the animals. Yes, some of the cages you'll see around are quite small, but I think they rotate the cats as they have a lot! The enclosures are big though, and the cats are lovely to play with... and there's no horrible chains or leashes anywhere... So they must be doing sonething right!
Will be recommending this without a doubt!
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