Feed baby tigers in thailand
Sriracha Tiger Zoo - Thailand
I’ve been to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo on two occasions. I first made the trip back in 2013 and went again about a month ago. Both times were a lot of fun. Everyone who accompanied me on the adventures enjoyed the experience as well. It’s just something you can’t get in the West.
I’m going to tell you about the shows, the schedules, and the prices first. At the end of this article, I’ll tell you exactly why you should visit the Sriracha Tiger Zoo and feed baby tigers. That will be the political and philosophical part so I’ll save it for last.
The Sriracha Tiger Zoo is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. The admission fee for adults is 450 baht at the door or 420 baht if you book in advance on their website. A child’s ticket costs 250 baht at the door or 220 baht online. Kids below 100 cm in height get in free.
Where is the Sriracha Tiger Zoo?
It’s located about half way between Bangkok’s Suvarnhabumi Airport and Pattaya, Thailand. If you’re staying in Pattaya, it will take you about an hour to get to Sriracha. A taxi will probably charge between 1,000 to 1,500 baht to take you there, wait around, and then return you to Pattaya.
A taxi is cheaper than paying the per-person shuttle service price on the Tiger Zoo’s website. I recommend arranging your own transportion.
Sriracha Tiger Zoo Schedule of Shows
Crocodile Show
- 0930
- 1030
- 1300
- 1400
- 1500
- 1600
- 1700
Tiger Show
- 1100
- 1330
- 1530
Elephant Show
- 1140
- 1430
- 1630
Pig Racing
- Every 30 minutes from 0900 to 1700
Feeding Baby Tigers
One of the coolest things is having your picture taken with a baby tiger. It’s a brief experience so you don’t get to really spend much time petting the little guy. The staff gives you a bottle of milk, puts the baby tiger in your lap, and then snaps a quick photo.
The whole thing is over within 30 seconds but it’s still worth it. You’ll have a great photo for Facebook and a newfound love for baby tigers.
This is not included in the price of your ticket. It costs extra to do this and includes a photo.
Photo with a Big Tiger
Many people are just too damn scared to get in the cage with a full-size tiger. It’s funny to watch. Those that do take on the adventure seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. People in the first group are terrified, but they are determined to get the photo. People in the second group don’t have a care in the world because they apparently don’t recognize the danger. I’ve seen Middle Eastern and Indian tourists burst into the cage laughing and joking, plop down on top of the tiger, and pull on its ears. Dumbasses.
The tiger has a chain around its neck and is secured to the little stage. However, I would have to admit that if it got pissed, it could still take a bite out of you or swat you before anyone could intervene.
Is it safe? Yeah, for the most part I would say it is. I don’t think anyone can give you a solid guarantee, though. There are usually two handlers in the cage with you plus the guy taking the photo. As long as you do as directed and don’t act stupid, you’ll be just fine.
The cost of taking a photo with the big tiger is not included in the ticket price. You have to pay extra. It comes with a nice photo in a souvenir-type paper frame. Don’t bother asking for the digital file to be emailed to you. They won’t do it. They will take a couple of pics with your iPhone. Since they do this all day, they’re pretty good at cell phone photography. There’s no need to explain to the staff about how an iPhone works. They know.
This is one of those things you have to do while you’re in Thailand. As I’ve talked about in previous articles, being up close and personal to these animals will cause you to become involved in their struggle for survival. Watching them from afar at a zoo in the U.S.
just isn’t the same.
More Activities at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo
You can feed crocodiles. They give you a bamboo fishing pole of sorts with a string tied to a raw chicken. Dangle it above their heads in the water until one takes the bait. It’s pretty amazing to see how fast crocodiles are when they decide to strike.
Feed the CrocodilesBottle Feed the FishYeah, that’s a real crocodile.There is a girl with about thirty, real scorpions crawling on her dress. If you decide to take a photo with this chick, be aware that she will try to put one of the scorpions on you when you’re not looking. I wasn’t the least bit cool with that. Sure, it’s a unique photo, but I recommend you make it clear to the girl that she needs to keep the scorpions on her own damn body.
Sriracha Tiger Zoo Contact Information
Here is the contact info taken from their website:
Sriracha Tiger Zoo Co., Ltd.
341 Moo 3, Nongkham, Sriracha, Chonburi 20110, Thailand.
Tel : (038) 296556-8, 339111, 338884, 081-7509104, 084-9453722
Fax : (038) 296559, 338517
E-mail : prstz@hotmail.
com
Website : www.tigerzoo.com
Restaurant
Tel : (038) 296562-3, 081-3771470, 081-9963585
Fax : (038) 296561
Bangkok Office
Tel : (02) 9330566, 9330977, 086-3028848
Fax : (02) 9330311
E-mail : [email protected]
Why You Should Visit Sriracha Tiger Zoo
If you’ve read my article entitled Ride Elephants in Thailand. You Are Protecting Them., you already have an understanding of my position on “ethics” from animal rights activists. If not, read it and ponder the philosophy. The same philosophy on elephants applies to tigers as well.
There are only a few thousand tigers left in the wild–in the entire world. According to researchers, there were around 100,000 tigers in the wild at the turn of the century and now they number approximately 3,000. At this rate, tigers in the wild will no longer exist within a decade.
Places like Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Thailand and zoos in the West will be where the last of the tigers reside.
In the West, no one makes a special trip to the zoo just to view tigers from afar while they lounge around their concrete jungle. Nobody really cares. But, when you feed a baby tiger a bottle of milk in your lap or sit next to a full-grown tiger and touch its fur, you become attached. You’re suddenly involved. You won’t forget the experience and may begin to further educate yourself about tigers.
No trip to the zoo in America has ever resulted in me giving two shits about any of the animals. You make the rounds with the kids, eat an over-priced hotdog on stale bread, and suffer amidst the stench wafting through the air. The highlight is the petting zoo where you get to interact with the Pygmy goats. That’s the only part anyone remembers. It’s not exactly a pleasant experience for adults. Since I’ve moved to Thailand, I think about elephants and tigers every day. Why? Because I’m up close and personal with them frequently.
Is it “cruelty to animals” to make tigers do a few tricks for the tourists? No, it is not.
Those tourism dollars protect the tigers, buy them food, and provide veterinary care. It’s a small price to pay for ensured survival of the species.
Do animal rights activists really want to release all the tigers back into the wild? They’ll be gone because of poaching. I will concede that if PETA can write a check big enough to take care of all the tigers involved in the tourism industry, then there’s no need for the tigers to be jumping through hoops of fire. Until then, PETA’s arguments are a waste of time and breath. All of the travel writers and their negative articles just make me laugh as well. Don’t let others decide what’s “ethical” for you from their laptops at a Starbucks in Washington D.C.
My Advice for Tourists?
Come to Thailand. Feed a baby tiger. Have your picture taken with a full-grown tiger. Ride elephants. Feed baby elephants bananas. It’s ok to do so. You’re helping secure their existence.
Thailand’s Tiger Kingdom offers tiger selfies. That doesn’t mean you should take one.
Tinder realized it had a tiger problem in the summer of 2017. Too many of its users were featuring photos of themselves crouched next to big cats like tigers and lions, animals that, had a random Tinder user approached them under normal circumstances, would probably try to eat them.
That is what tigers and lions do when they are living in the wild and going about their business. But the tigers “posing” with Tinder users weren’t roaming free; their handlers at zoos and entertainment venues had made them available for pics through sedation or other harmful practices. Over the course of the 2010s, taking a selfie cuddling a tiger became easier and cheaper than ever.
“Posing next to a king of the jungle doesn’t make you one,” began a blog post on Tinder’s corporate site on July 28, 2017. “It’s time for the tiger selfies to go. More often than not, these photos take advantage of beautiful creatures that have been torn from their natural environment. Wild animals deserve to live in the wild.
”
The post was in response to a letter from PETA calling for a ban on tiger and lion selfies on the app. But while Tinder discouraged users from uploading them, it didn’t enact an outright ban. Two years later, Tinder is still brimming with possibly sedated, likely mistreated wild animals.
Although presumably those who take these kinds of photos might think that posing next to a lion will make them seem like moneyed adventurers, or “wanderlusters,” to use a Tinder term, the photos themselves are often taken in shady zoos, where the cost to get up close with a lion or tiger is barely more than an Uber fare.
Zoos that allow tiger and lion encounters are often shady, and cheap
There’s a reason you can’t pay hundreds of dollars to bottle-feed the baby tiger cubs or pose with a lion at most reputable zoos: It’s because wildlife advocates have stressed for years that human encounters with big cats are both dangerous to humans and encourage the mistreatment of the animals.
The state of New York, for instance, banned direct contact between people and lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, and cougars in 2014, in a bill that eventually became known as the “Tiger selfie” law.
The bill was aimed at so-called “roadside zoos,” or small and largely unaccredited facilities where wild and exotic animals are kept in captivity, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund. These zoos can keep animals “small, dirty cages,” where they’re “fed inadequate food and denied medical care” but operate legally by taking advantage of lax state and federal laws.
They’re often the same zoos that advertise experiences to take photos dangerously close to wild animals. Whether they’re located in the US or abroad, they tend to share certain qualities: Their websites are often sparse, broken, or amateurishly designed, and admission is often cheap. Cricket Hollow Animal Park in Manchester, Iowa, which advertises photos of guests holding baby wild cats and other animals on its Facebook page, charges just $5 for admission.
Despite the fact that it’s been hit with multiple legal setbacks, including a 182-page decision from the US Department of Agriculture to revoke its license, the animal park is still in business. That’s because it’s still perfectly legal in many states to keep tigers as pets.
Caption this? pic.twitter.com/K4t7R7F1XH
— Nature is Videos (@NATUREVlDEOS) March 25, 2019
It’s a similar story internationally. At Casela Park in Mauritius, petting cheetahs and lions inside their enclosures costs, respectively, about $20 or $25. At Indonesia’s Taman Safari Park, that cost is only a few dollars.
Few places in the world are as popular for tiger selfies as Thailand. More people are visiting — the Thai tourism council predicted a 5.5 percent increase in visitors for 2019 thanks to lowered visa barriers, bringing the total number of expected tourists to more than 40 million — which means more potential visitors to these zoos and animal parks.
Despite a major crackdown on the infamous Tiger Temple in 2016, where wildlife officials confiscated 137 tigers and found freezers full of the carcasses of 40 cubs, as well as another 20 cubs floating in formaldehyde jars, the country’s tiger tourism sector is booming.
Animal rights activists have long warned tourists against visiting them, but it hasn’t stopped places like Sriracha Tiger Zoo from offering tiger cub bottle-feeding and up-close photos with adult tigers for just 650 baht, or about $20.
At Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, prices vary based on the size and age of the tiger you’d like to take a picture with — premiums are given to the smallest and largest tigers. A photo and 10 minutes with a baby tiger is about $40, while the same time with the biggest tigers is $31. Small and medium-sized tiger photos cost $28. Information on the site informs visitors that they’re free to touch the tigers under the instruction of the tiger keeper.
It’s common for zoos like these to claim that they don’t sedate their animals.
The Lujan Zoo outside Buenos Aires, Argentina, which at one point allowed its guests to ride and feed lions and bears for just $25 (its logo is a person touching a lion), told the International Business Times that they simply feed the animals before they interact with humans, and that the animals are raised with domestic dogs to learn “boundaries.”
Guests wrote on TripAdvisor, however, that the animals appeared “obviously sedated.” Though it’s difficult to know for certain whether or not an animal has been sedated, many videos taken at similar zoos show unusually groggy or tired lions and tigers posing with humans.
This is what I mentioned before. Happy sangat dapat ambik gambar dengan haiwan dibius setengah mati. Just don’t guys, please just don’t. https://t.co/hWxL71ofiH
— Maya Karin (@maya_karin) December 23, 2018
Regardless of if they’re being given chemical sedation, it’s more than likely that if a zoo allows guests to hold or hug a wild animal, that its well-being has been compromised.
It’s a point stressed by World Animal Protection, an organization which tracks animals in entertainment venues. Its research shows 62 percent of tiger selfies between 2014 to 2017 to be “bad” wildlife interactions, or ones that showed someone holding, hugging, or “inappropriately interacting” with the animal.
The organization also released a 2016 study on the Thai tiger tourism industry, which found that about 830 tigers were kept in entertainment venues in the country, a third more than just five years earlier. World Animal Protection attributes this to the rise in demand for tiger selfies on social media, and notes that the conditions in some Thai animal entertainment venues are bleak — tigers are housed in concrete cages with limited access to fresh water and consistently exposed to visitors and other stressors.
Cub-petting tourist attractions are particularly exploitative. “People love getting their pictures taken with tiger cubs,” Angela Culver, media director of In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center in Texas told the BBC last year.
“Often they are kept on a bottle too long to keep them artificially small, and malnourished so they can be more easily handled; then they are either sold off, used for breeding or euthanised unless a sanctuary steps in — it’s a vicious cycle.”
And in the US, it may be worse: USDA guidelines only allow big cats to be pet and bottle-fed by visitors when they are between eight and 12 weeks old, which means that when they grow, they may be killed or given to rescue centers who are already overburdened.
“There are not enough accredited, high-quality sanctuaries in the US to rehome the volume of tigers bred here for commercial use,” explains Alesia Soltanpanah, US executive director at World Animal Protection, “including the many tigers that may be considered disposable by owners once they’re more than 12 weeks old.”
Instagram has started warning users who search for the #tigerselfie hashtag that they may be encouraging harmful behavior towards animals.Rebecca JenningsBy all measures, this kind of tourism is only continuing to grow.
Along with rising tourism rates as a whole, demand for wildlife tourism has risen in the past few years, which has translated to more animals being kept in entertainment venues. World Animal Protection estimated that as of 2016 there were up to 550,000 wild animals in tourist attractions, and that that number is even higher today.
“Social media normalizes behavior that actually puts wildlife in jeopardy,” adds Soltanpanah. “The sharing of selfies and videos with wild animals like tigers unwittingly sends a message to thousands or even millions of people at a time that this activity is acceptable.”
Which, of course, make it even harder to stop. Besides Tinder’s call to remove tigers from its app and New York’s ban on big cat interactions, since 2017 Instagram has done its part by alerting users searching for hashtags like #tigerselfie that the content may be associated with harm to animals.
World Animal Protection hopes, however, that the public opinion will shift — despite increased demand for elephant rides and tiger selfies, the organization found a 9 percent drop in people who found elephant riding acceptable in 2017, down from 2014, and hopes that will translate to tiger selfies as well.
Considering public backlash to the woman who broke into the jaguar enclosure to take a selfie at an Arizona zoo in March, it’s possible that opinions are already veering toward the side of the animals.
Want more stories from The Goods by Vox? Sign up for our newsletter here.
Our goal this month
Now is not the time for paywalls. Now is the time to point out what’s hidden in plain sight (for instance, the hundreds of election deniers on ballots across the country), clearly explain the answers to voters’ questions, and give people the tools they need to be active participants in America’s democracy. Reader gifts help keep our well-sourced, research-driven explanatory journalism free for everyone. By the end of September, we’re aiming to add 5,000 new financial contributors to our community of Vox supporters. Will you help us reach our goal by making a gift today?
where and how can I communicate with them?
Pattaya » Thailand 8 760 6
The idea to write about tigers in Pattaya came to me after a question from our reader and tourist Julia.
“Which excursion in Pattaya should you sign up for if you want to feed the tigers and take pictures with them?” she asked. Tigers are not found in Pattaya, but there are several places nearby, and we all visited them: I, to be honest, am also partial to big striped cats.
And where are the tigers in Pattaya?
You can communicate with tigers and cubs in the following places near Pattaya: Sukhumvit Tiger Park, Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Khao Kaew Open Zoo and Tiger Zoo in the city with the dissonant name of Sriracha. We will tell you how much it costs and how to get to all the listed places.
Where can I take pictures with tigers?
Tigers in Pattaya start at… Nong Nuche. In Nong Nooch you can take a picture with a tiger for 100 baht . This is a real tiger, not stuffed with tranquilizers, which picturesquely sits next to orchids. You sit behind him on the same stone, and put your hand on the back of the tiger.
You can lightly stroke, but you need to press hard, otherwise the tiger will think that it is besieged by a fly.
This is, of course, a very superficial "acquaintance" with the tigers in Pattaya, but even it will bring you a certain dose of adrenaline.
My very first tiger… Nong Nooch, Pattaya, 2014.
You can also take great photos with tigers at the Tiger Zoo in Sriracha (or Siracha), which is 40 km from Pattaya. More precisely, not with tigers, but with cubs. You can even pick up these mischievous babies!
This photo costs 200 baht for two . You sit down on a bench, they cover your knees with a towel and give you a tiger cub in your hands. At this moment, the Thai photographer is trying with might and main to make you look more or less decent, because the tiger cubs are not trained and dance something on your lap. During this photo shoot, the tiger sitting at Zhenya's was screaming and crying so much that we generally regretted getting involved in this.
Then the photo is printed out for you in a cardboard frame. For some reason they refuse to upload it to a flash drive, so ask someone to take a picture with your camera, so as not to rely on only one copy of such a wonderful frame. This is probably the closest "communication" with the striped ones that is possible if you are interested in tigers in Pattaya.
This is the only well-received photo with small tiger cubs in her arms. Well, they are restless!
Where can I feed tigers in Pattaya?
At the Khao Keo Zoo (50 km from Pattaya) you can feed a real white tiger with chicken meat from a skewer. The skewer costs 20 baht . However, this can only be done when visiting the zoo on your own or when ordering a taxi; there is no arrival at the tigers on excursions to Khao Keo from Pattaya. On the tour there is, however, the opportunity to feed the lions in exactly the same way.
I was very impressed with the feeding of tigers.
Here he is, right ten centimeters from me, baring his huge scary teeth! It's good that there is a lattice between us 🙂
Eat, dear, yum-yum!
Well, do not forget that tigers in Pattaya are, first of all, tigers in the tiger zoo Si Rachi . There you can bottle feed the tabby baby! In my opinion, it is unforgivable to miss such an opportunity. It costs 50 baht for a bottle, and there is enough milk in it to let two or three cubs suck on it. Nearby are cages with three-month-old babies, and they are ready to eat milk, be healthy!
Tiger cubs like milk very much; when I fed one of them, the other two in the neighborhood yelled with might and main to share with them too. I'm on my way now, my dears! The last tiger cub handled the nipple on the bottle so greedily that he even tore it off. All right, fed.
This tiger cub is 3 months old, he lives separately from his mother and eats whatever the tourist feeds him. Tiger Zoo in Si Racha.
In fact, it is not very convenient to feed a tiger cub and take pictures with it at the same time. And how has he not scratched his hand yet!
Where can I watch a tiger show?
Tigers in Pattaya also participate in the show. For example, Khao Keo Zoo hosts animal shows without human participation . There the tigers come out, walk along the pond with a glass wall. Thai show organizers force one tiger to plunge into the water, another to climb the trunk for meat. After a couple of minutes, the cats are removed.
Animal show without people at Khao Keo Zoo. The striped one reminds us that although he is big, he is from the cat family - he climbs so briskly!
But stop: if you are a cat, then why are you a good swimmer?
There is also a show at the Shirachi Tiger Zoo. In fact, this is a triple show: first with the participation of tigers , then the audience moves to another hall and is entertained by crocodiles chewing Thai heads, then to the third hall - there elephants are bowling.
It's not the Zapashny brothers involved with the tigers, of course, but it's not bad. We like the old-fashioned trick of jumping into a burning ring the most.
Of all the brothers known to me - the Samoilovs, Salvatore, Grimm, Karamazovs and Cohens - for some reason this photograph reminds me only of the Zapashny brothers.
My heart always stops at such spectacles.
How to get to the tigers and how much does it cost
To the garden of Nong Nooch , of course, you don’t need to go for one photo with a tiger - only if you plan to visit this place at all. The entrance ticket costs 500 baht per person. Here is a detailed article about Nong Nooch and a description of how to get there:
- Nong Nooch Garden: expected a little more
You can go to the Khao Keo Zoo with a group on an excursion from Pattaya, you can take a taxi individually. You can't get there by public transport.
Si Racha Tiger Zoo can also be reached by guided tour or taxi (public transport is only part of the way). But it is most convenient to visit there as part of the Discovery tour : you will have time to watch all three shows, and take pictures and feed all the cubs. Tigers are the highlight of this zoo, but in all other respects it is much inferior to Khao Keo.
Sriracha Tiger Zoo on the map of ThailandUpdate! Quite recently, a beautiful Tiger Park appeared in Pattaya itself. There are different types of tigers, from small ones to serious adults. You can stroke the tigers, play (only small ones), take pictures with them. You can get there by public transport: first to Sukhumvit Street, and then along it to the south, towards Nong Nooch and the floating market.
Tiger Park on the map of Pattaya In the Tiger Park, the cost of "communication" with a tiger in an enclosure for 10-15 minutes is 800-1000 baht per person, depending on the size of the tiger.
There are package deals where you can play and take pictures with tigers of different sizes. Yes tigers - 1600 baht per person, three tigers - 2200 baht, four tigers (from small to large) - 2800 baht per person. The prices are high, but it's worth it.
And a bit of nostalgia...
Feed a tiger cub with milk, take a picture behind him... That's all! Walking a tiger on a leash in Tiger Monastery is definitely not for everyone!
There are photos with a tiger for 100 baht, there is for 200 baht. But this one cost us the whole thousand. And yes, it was worth it.
Categories: Animals | Excursions in Pattaya
“My daughter looked around and burst into tears”, or Is it worth it to go to Thailand with a child?
How to get from Pattaya to Bangkok on your own: the cheapest way
How to feed baby tiger cubs in Pattaya with milk
Odviser
step by step instructions
adventure
The Wall of China? How to swim in the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome? How to go kayaking on the canals of Venice? How to walk on the roofs of skyscrapers in Dubai?
Join to have an adventure!
In the zoo you can take photos with tigers and feed two-month-old cubs with milk.
Sriracha Tiger Zoo is located half an hour from the city limits. As many as 200 adult tigers lead their unhurried life here. Each guest can feed the predator and take a photo as a keepsake. A particularly touching opportunity is to feed a two-month-old baby tiger cub with milk from a bottle, like a baby. When else will you have such an opportunity?!
There are hundreds of other animals in the zoo - crocodiles, deer, elephants, camels and many others. Moreover, a number of them coexist, in the truest sense of the word, under one roof - have you ever seen a pig feeding tiger cubs in an enclosure with its milk? And the tigress feeding her piglets? Children will be delighted with a visit here!
Where can I do it?
#2 Sriracha Zoo
The zoo is home to about 200 tigers and 10,000 crocodiles, not to mention other animals! You can take photos with predators and feed them.
38
Location: 341 Moo 3 | Nongkham, Sriracha, Chonburi
Hours: daily 09:30 to 18:00
Phone: +66 3829 6556
Official website: http://www.
tigerzoo.com
Siamese massage #26 of 67
TOP-67 things to do
in Pattaya
See the crocodile show → #29 of 67
in plans 4 0004
In Nong Nooch Park, you can feed the ancient giant arapimes, five meters tall living fossils.
50010 Nong Nooch Garden
№13Make a wish in the Temple of Truthoddviser
The impressive temple is full of very powerful energy - how can one not believe that wishes made here really come true.
FREE11 Temple of Truth
№50See how sharks are fed
Feeding predatory sharks is not a sight for the faint of heart, but very interesting and exciting.
5005 Underwater World Pattaya
№41Ride an elephantoddviser
Do you want your trip to Thailand to be full of impressions? Be sure to ride the elephant!
4007 Nong Nooch Garden
№42Visit the village of the Karen tribeoddviser
In the village of the Karen you can see the famous beauties with rings that lengthen the neck.
2506 Karen Village
#26Try Royal Siamese massageoddviser
Feel the delights of a royal Thai massage - several hours of bliss awaits you.
22409 ANG Healing Touch Salon
№38 Climb to the Big Buddhaoddviser
This sacred place impresses not only with the beauty of architecture and gorgeous view, but also with many interesting rites for cleaning karma.
FREE8 Big Buddha Hill
№56Dive to the sunken shipoddviser
Go to the ship HTMS Hardeep, which was sunk during the Second World War by Japanese bombers.
25005 Jomtien Dive Center
№34Visit the night marketoddviser
You should definitely visit this kingdom of tastes and smells, an empire of the most incredible dishes and a festive festival for the stomach.
