Buddhist monks mistreat animals too

Environment · Lorenzo Brenna · 2016-05-31

In Thailand the authorities have decided to confiscate the tigers held at the famous “Tiger Temple”, accusing the monks of mistreatment.

Buddhism is supposed to teach respect for life and for all creatures, given that, according to Buddhists, the human condition is merely one of many possible states of existence, and that the Buddha himself is said to have lived lives in animal bodies.

Una turista posa con una tigre — At the Thai temple in Kanchanaburi, tigers are exploited as a tourist attraction, chained and forced to pose for visitors in the sun Photo: Ira Block

But the monks of the Tiger Temple, a Thai Buddhist temple located in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, would appear to have forgotten this and, as happens all too often with religious figures, to have bent their faith to more prosaic interests. At least according to what Thailand's wildlife protection authority has stated, having confiscated three tigers from the temple and preparing to confiscate the rest, accusing the monks of mistreating the animals and selling them illegally.

No Nirvana for tigers

The Kanchanaburi temple houses more than 130 tigers, which are used to attract tourists — thousands of whom visit the famous "Tiger Temple" every year — generating a turnover of around $5.7 million a year. The big cats are constantly approached by tourists wanting to take photographs or bottle-feed the cubs, clearly disrupting what their natural behaviour should be.

Turista si fa fotografare con una tigre — The tigers at the temple display an excessively docile demeanour and are believed to be sedated by the monks

Animal rights groups speak out

Following complaints from numerous animal rights organisations around the world, the Thai authorities finally decided to intervene, raiding the temple and seizing some of the animals kept there. The monks are accused of illegal breeding and trafficking of wild animals and, according to some testimonies, of sedating the tigers to make them more docile and amenable towards tourists.

The monks' protests

The monks are said to have rejected all the accusations. "Here with us, the tigers coexist with humans in Buddhist harmony," they claim. The evidence and testimonies, however, appear overwhelming, describing tigers kept in chains and forced into unnatural postures.

Un monaco buddista con un cucciolo di tigre — The monks are reportedly accused by the Thai authorities of illegal breeding and trafficking of wild animals Photo: Ira Block

Frozen cub carcasses

The Thai authorities also found inside the temple, in a freezer, the bodies of more than forty tiger cubs, that of a bear, and the horns of several animals.

A new life for the tigers

On 30 May, a major operation began, managed by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, involving the relocation of all the big cats held at the temple to a park where they will be able to reconnect with their wild nature.