My heart stopped when the grown tiger ran my nephew down and leaped at him to ferociously rip his throat apart. That's a tiger's primal instinct and the size of children to them are similar to prey in the wild. This particular tiger came a few feet away from his prey today (my nephew) and slammed hard into the steel bars that cage him. Lucky for us, we were in Chonburi and we weren't in the wild hundreds of years ago because I really love my nephew.
Chonburi Province's most popular attraction is Thailand's most visited tourist destination and the party-oriented town of Pattaya. Another well-known town is Si Racha because of the famous hot sauce which is named after the small town it originates from. Si Racha also sees a number of local and foreign visitors also partly house the infamous Sriracha Tiger Zoo, home to over 200 tigers and 10,000 crocodiles.
.jpeg)
The Sriracha Tiger Zoo is a great place where children learn about wildlife and in particular, tigers, crocodiles, and elephants. There are elementary school trips from around the country there on any given day with a mix of tourist families. People from all over the world flock to this zoo of great tigers for an opportunity to take selfies with them. The thought of feeding baby tigers and taking pictures on top of a crocodile's back is exotic to the mind. For most visitors, the Sriracha Tiger Zoo is where they can experience the next best thing to being in the jungle with these magnificent beasts.
Zoos Through the Eyes of Children
.jpeg)
When we arrived at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo we made it just in time for the tiger show and the children in our family really wanted to see tigers. This was their first time seeing a tiger and the arena was packed with school kids on their field trips. There were only the front seats available in the circus-like arena and as we sat down, the show was already getting a roar out of the school kids. The trainers were commanding the tigers to do acts that the children had only seen on television and for most of them, this was there first time seeing a live tiger too.
After the show, our kids were still intrigued by the fierce presence of tigers so we headed to one of the zoo's tiger feeding stations. For 100 baht, the zoo gives you 2 whole chickens to feed a cage full of tigers and surprisingly for me, they didn't fight each other for the chickens. The chickens are tied to a rope much like a worm on a fishing hook (but no hook) and then lowered down to the magnificent beasts with sticks. The power of the beast could be felt as it nonchalantly grabs the chicken away but to a person, it felt viciously strong.
.jpeg)
As we lowered the second chicken down, my niece started meowing at the gorgeous tigers. It gave us all a chuckle as we feed the second tiger but I can imagine how a 2-year-old can mistake tigers and lions as cats. In the belief of Gaia, we the people are supposed to tame and protect the animals and ecosystems of this realm. To a child without any limitations or programs set in place by the many systems that control us, starts life with the core concepts of their naturalistic abilities and limitless powers. To my niece, it was an animal on her feline list that she instinctively went to tame and protect in her 2-year-old way. "Meow..." she kept repeating. That ain't no Siamese cat, Princess...LOL.
.jpeg)
We headed to the crocodile feeding pits next because we had a few minutes to spare before the starting of the next crocodile show. It was the same routine with the 2 chickens for 100 baht and I give the same safety warning. The crocodiles have a different type of strength but are amazing strong nonetheless. The crocodiles seemed hungrier than the tigers because as soon as the feeding station attendant grabbed some poles, a few of them moved into prime feeding position. They ate those 2 chickens like they were cough drops.
.jpeg)
We found ourselves front row again at the crocodile show. As the show progressed, @gramurai and I joked about how nature evolved the crocodile to be the perfect killing machine over millions of years and along came a guy who pulled his tail. It's a quite funny statement if you've ever seen a crocodile show because it's artistry that relies on knowing how to pull their tails and trained commands. The climax of the show was when both trainers put their heads in a crocodile's mouth and the show ends if they both live to tell about it.
.jpeg)
After the crocodile show, we headed next door to the pig races and to see the infamous "Calculation Pig." At first, I was confused at what I was watching because it was all conducted in Mandarin Chinese and not Thai. As I heard the Chinese tourist say some numbers I knew in Chinese, I realized the pig was doing basic math.
.jpeg)
The announcer/host would say some things in Chinese and then randomly choose a Chinese tourist to randomly give a subtraction or addition problem. One Chinese tourist after another and each problem, the star pig would pick up the correct number in front of it. Around the fourth math problem conducted in Mandarin Chinese, was when it finally dawned on me.
.jpeg)
The "Calculation Pig" could only understand one human language and that was Mandarin Chinese! Not only did it understand Chinese but it was doing math equations, in Chinese! I thought at my age I had seen it all and along comes a really big pig to say my life's journey just began.
Zoos Through the Eyes of an Adult
As we walked out, I was grateful to the ye kind universe seeing our children still excited about their experiences with all the animals. I remembered the same excitement that I felt visiting the Los Angeles Zoo with my brother A.J. as a kid. I know that they learned a great deal about animals and wildlife that day. All the great kid and family views made the trip worthwhile and then there's the responsible adult side of the trip.
I'm well traveled in my lifetime and have been to many zoos in a number of countries. I say they all average out to moderate living conditions at best in every country. Having "Zoos" is an issue that humanity must address because of the moderate living conditions these poor animals must endure. My trip to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo made me realize that it's a problem we must attempt to fix before the conditions are seen as cruelty to animals.
There's really no such thing as a great "state of the art" zoo. That's just ridiculous but we're a society that lives in concrete boxes ourselves. We ourselves have disconnected ourselves from Mother Nature so it's hard finding sympathy for animals because as a species, we are horrible to ourselves. We treat each other like animals so what chance do the animal animals have with us? We're supposed to be their protectors and beastmasters but our society has been programmed to put them on display for our visual amusement. Strange days we live in.
.jpeg)
There's really no easy answer with many saying nature reserves are the only humane way forward. I'm grateful for the memories but it left me with a lot to think about. I'm sure every animal lover that leaves the Sriracha Tiger Zoo feels grateful for the experience but like me, also leaves with a lot to think about.
.jpeg)
Authored & Photographed by:
👍
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thanks a million!
joss
Hmm, Chinese language is hard for me to learn. So, maybe the pig can share me one or two tips on how to learn Chinese Mandarin. 😃
Tell me about it! LOL. That pig was amazing. Thanks for coming by and have an incredible week.
Wow! I really enjoyed your post, the pig looks very cute, I come from Thailand, but I think you had a chance to visit the place more than I do. What a shame ha!
Super happy you enjoyed the post. The pig is a genius amongst pigs, LOL. Thanks for coming by and have a great week krup!
Wow! My son really loves wild animals such as tigers and crocodiles and I believe if he will see this in person, he will literally be shocked and happy and excited.
Can't wait for our next trip anytime this year! :D :D :D
Yeah, there's something about the awe in kids when they see tigers. I'm still in awe at my age too when I see one, LOL. I wish your son the best on his coming experiences and can't wait to read your post about it sooner than later :) Thanks for coming y and have an incredible week.
200 tigers and 10,000 crocodiles! that's a little bit too much for me. Although I don't like zoos because I don't like to see animals in cages (smalls, bigs, they're all cages) I really enjoyed your post and that balance between "through the eyes of children" and "through the eyes of an adult". Thanks for sharing.
Yeah,those numbers are crazy. That's a lot of chicken a day, LOL. Thanks for coming by and have a great week.
what a fantastic tripp.
The pictures are so amazing!
yes they are, i liked it much too.
Super happy you both enjoyed the photos. Thanks a trillion!
Super happy you enjoyed the photos and have an outstanding week!
Amazing pictures, I like it so much.
Thanks a million!
Fantastic post friend congratulations good job
Glad you liked the post and have a lovely week :)
Great photos of what looks like an amazing zoo. And, the essay is engaging and informative.
Great zoo yes!
They also used to have 2 orangutans I used to buy ice cream and take photos with but a worker told me they were up there in age so were taken to an animal care preserve. Miss those guys!
The magic at the zoo came from the animals. Tigers are really magnificent beasts. Thanks for coming yb and have a great week :)
WOW! What an amazing experience! There's nothing better than seeing animals!
Agreed. Wish there were schools or classes in taming animals like tigers and crocodiles. The experience was amazing for our kids. Thanks for coming by and have an outstanding week.
Really looks you and your family has a great time! :)
Kids had a blast and super happy I got the opportunity to share with you all. Thanks for coming by and have a terrific week.
Pictures are so Amazing and truely colourfull.
Thanks a billion!
Jealous!
Wish I could be there with my family soon.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. :)
Your family is going to love it and hope to read your post about it sooner than later. Thanks for coming by and have a week.
I like the zoo
this pic is amazing
Super happy you enjoyed the post. Thanks for visiting and have an amazing weekend.
TBH i really dont like zoos. they always make animals perform to have moneys. Poor tigers :(
That's the adult part of us speaking. I suppose nature reserves are the only way to go since the current system is meant for profit and not protection. Yeah poor tigers, but 10,000 crocodiles?!? Those numbers are just crazy. I'd have to write a whole different article for that though. Anyhow, thanks for coming by and have a wonderful week.
Really amazing pictures. Animals are te Best of the word
Super glad you like the pics. The animals were awesome :) Thanks for coming by and have a terrific weekend.
Animals sometime entertaining and some time dangerous, the way we handle them
I do agree, animal entertainment isn't ideal but we have to change the thinking of multiple generations stating with the youth. Not impossible by no means. Just have to reteach them to love nature and the animals we must save and protect. Thanks for stopping by and have a marvelous week.
SAVE TIGER @stewsak
They have over 200 tigers and over 10,000 crocodiles. Wow. Thanks for coming by and have a great week.
Nice Pics
Well done
Thanks a billion!
Beautiful pictures, animals are the most beautiful creatures of our earth.
Super happy you liked the photos and have a terrific rest of the week.
Thank you, I wish that too
Interesting reading! :)
Thanks a million!
Amazing pictures!! I like it
Thanks a quadrillion!
👍
Thanks a trillion!
I like animals too. They have a different perspective to what our human see . Some animals are aggressive and some are less or just elude people for safety . And also I has such thought for merely what is called human standpoint.
Animals make this realm beautiful. Thanks fr coming by and have a marvelous rest of the week.
Beautiful!
Thanks a million!
beautiful photos!!!
Thanks a billion!
Nice post, i've also already been in Thailand exact two of the places you mentions " Chonburi & Pattaya ", it was a nice experience, we were getting around the cities with the longboards. the only negative thing from the trip was in the famous walk street in Pattaya, they picked up my pocket... maybe in the next post i will write something about Pattaya specialy the Walking Street cuz its soooo interesting and fun and there are so many things to tell about, and people who ve been there already know what im talking about :D
Yes, Pattaya is a great place and the locals are lovely, the rated is R to X (lol) at night and you have to get intoxicated while staying alert. Like you said, especially Walking-Street because Pattaya is like Las Vegas without the casinos, LOL. I hope the rest of the trip was great and I hope your next trip here is legendary :) Thanks for coming by and have a superb rest of the week.
Yes it is a great place and the locals are lovely and fun as well, and about the rest of the trip i can say that i was pretty good, this was like nothing i ve ever experienced before, the walking-stress has to be one of the greatest concentrations of night time venues anywhere in the world i guess, from the moment u enter till the end what it about 2km long almost every building along its length is a nightclub :D
Thanks for amazing photos!! I love animal and especially love in a first photo, a beautiful tiger with blue eyes :D
They are all quite beautiful but yes, the one laying down has gorgeous eyes. Even the crocodiles were cute in their own dangerous predator ways, LOL. Thanks for stopping by and have a magical rest of the week.
This has inspired me to include a little more animal photography, thank you very much for your post, greetings from Venezuela.
So glad you enjoyed the post. Do you do any landscape photography? I love your landscape out there. Thanks for coming by and have terrific rest of the week.
Yes, and thank you very much, you are doing a post on the subject, it is an honor! Greetings, we are in contact.
amazing, i love it <3
Super happy you enjoyed the post and have an amazing rest of the week.
Congratulations @stewsak!
Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following category:
Thank you for using @entrust!
You got a 93.98% upvote from @entrust courtesy of @chrisho!
Entrust is a bot focused on rewarding delegators and helping users promote their posts. We give 100% of the total rewards to the delegators with payouts will be given daily. If you would like to consider delegating to @entrust, we've made a quick delegation link for you :
10000 SP | 5000 SP | 1000 SP | 500 SP | 300 SP | 200 SP | 100 SP or visit our own tracker website for more information :