PHOTOS: Tiger Temple in Thailand is sanctuary for tame tigers, draws up to 600 tourists daily
Visitors can pose with felines at controversial sanctuary
RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA
A tourist pets a tiger at the Tiger Temple in Thailand on April 24.
A Buddhist-monk run tiger sanctuary boasts beasts so zen that tourists can cuddle and romp with them like a 500-pound housecat.
The tigers at Tiger Temple Thailand, located in Kanchanaburi, are docile enough to roam around the grounds freely.
Photographs from the sanctuary show visitors petting and posing for pictures with the large felines, while watchful Buddhist monks linger nearby.
According to the sanctuary's website, almost 90 tigers live at Tiger Temple Thailand. Monks and a team of volunteers train and take care of the creatures.
Basic entry to the sanctuary costs about $30, but tourists can also pay to feed and bathe the tigers, or to participate in their morning or evening exercise routines.
There has been one serious attack on a visitor, the sanctuary's website notes.
The temple says the tigers are so calm because they have been hand-reared by the monks from an early age, and no longer see humans as a threat, the Daily Mail reports.
Despite the temple's popularity - it draws up to 600 visitors per day - critics in the blogosphere say the monks aren't fit to handle the tigers, who some argue are exploited for profit.
In 2008, Care for the Wild International accused the monks of illegally trading tigers with breeders to mix up the temple's genetic pool, according to Time magazine.
The tigers at Tiger Temple Thailand, located in Kanchanaburi, are docile enough to roam around the grounds freely.
Photographs from the sanctuary show visitors petting and posing for pictures with the large felines, while watchful Buddhist monks linger nearby.
RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA
The tiger sanctuary is run by Buddhist monks, who train and take care of the animals.
Basic entry to the sanctuary costs about $30, but tourists can also pay to feed and bathe the tigers, or to participate in their morning or evening exercise routines.
RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA
Tigers bite a plastic bottle as they play in a pool at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi.
The temple says the tigers are so calm because they have been hand-reared by the monks from an early age, and no longer see humans as a threat, the Daily Mail reports.
RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA
Volunteers play with tigers in a pool at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi on April 24.
In 2008, Care for the Wild International accused the monks of illegally trading tigers with breeders to mix up the temple's genetic pool, according to Time magazine.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/photos-tiger-temple-thailand-sanctuary-tame-tigers-draws-600-tourists-daily-article-1.1067554#ixzz1t8APSKWy
