Wow! How good has blogspot been to me?! In just 4 months I have had almost 5,000 views, so I would like to thank everyone who has checked this out and especially to those who have been regular readers!
I'm now opening up a new website where all my best past posts and future posts can be found!
www.wildida.weebly.com
As you can see the web address isn't too different so hopefully it won't be too difficult to remember!
I will be leaving this page up, but I will no longer be updating on here, so if you are looking for my latest posts here it is once again
www.wildida.weebly.com
Got it?
www.wildida.weebly.com
THANK YOU!
www.wildida.weebly.com
:D
Tuesday 24 September 2013
Sunday 22 September 2013
BEGINNING MY LIFE AS A WILDLIFE FILMMAKER
Tomorrow is the day that I finally begin the long awaited start of my Wildlife Filmmaking career. Just 6 months ago I received the email:
If you are interested you can find more details about the course here.
I'm not saying all this to show off or make you seethe with jealousy. I just simply cannot believe it myself that I am having this opportunity and putting in down in words makes it somewhat more real. 16 people world wide have been chosen for a place in the second year of the course running. Goosebumps cover my skin as I realise the life I am about to embark on... Could this dream really become a reality?
My plan for this blog now is to write twice a week - one post continuing to write as I have been for the past 4 months on wildlife and conservation issues, and one as an update on what is going on with my course. Although there will likely be a few weeks where work takes over and this is not possible!
AFRICA
So, in beginning my life as a Wildlife Filmmaker I have been reading up about past documentaries made by the BBC and I wanted to share on here what I have learnt about the recent series "Africa" and the struggles, and amazing moments that the filmmakers faced.
"AFRICA - Eye to Eye with the Unknown" is written by Michael Bright covering all the amazing footage we saw in the documentary first shown in January.
In the forward written by David Attenborough he depicts the main issues facing the research and production team: "Big television series need new, un-filmed stories". The problem is Africa is possibly the most filmed continent on Earth, so finding new stories to uncover was never going to be easy: it took 18 months of research before they began to find stories of animals behaving a little, well, differently. This meant working closely with scientists and conservationists who have been studying and caring for the animals, ones who would go into places no one else would dare to travel. But this allowed them to film behaviour which has only just begun to be researched and discovered - such as the Fork Tailed Drongo's learning to trick meerkats out of a meal, and chimpanzees using up to 4 different tools to extract honey from a bees nest.
Another way of making things look different to past series was, alongside the latest camera technologies, adopting a series wide filming style. James Honeyborne, series producer, made the decision that every animal should be filmed at eye level and seeing what they're seeing from the perspective they see it. This meant crawling down in the dirt with ants and even, for cameraman Richard Matthews, sitting on the back of a dead whale as thirty great white sharks fed on it. A new generation of miniature remotely operated cameras were also used - although some of these took a battering from curious lions and elephants.
The filmmakers did not have an easy or a luxurious time - they would spend all the hours in a day for up to thirty days waiting to get the shot that fitted in with the required story. This sometimes meant sitting covered in a swarm of angry bees, or out in 50 degree temperatures when all animals except one species was hidden away from the killer heat. The majority of the crews food consisted of bread, rice and pasta... cameraman Alastair MacEwen and assistant producer Rosie Thomas were presented with fish porridge every day. In some parts of the country the crews faced enormous dangers, such as Felicity and Barrie Britton who were one day surrounded by men carrying AK47's and arrested for 24 hours on suspicion of illegal entry and subversive activities.
But at the end of it all the team captured some absolutely incredible footage, and saw things that they will probably never experience again in their lives. The entire series was an incredible piece of work with some absolutely stunning scenes. It was put together with a gentle ease with which you entirely forget all the struggles and difficulties that went in to making it (or at least we, the audience, do)! This series contains some of my very favourite sequences of wildlife films.
James Honeyborne closes off the book with a wonderful paragraph about the future of Africa:
"Our hope is that as Africa continues her inevitable journey towards modernisation, what has kept her wild places so special is not completely lost, both on a practical level, because we know there are still so many scientific discoveries to be revealed and amazing stories yet to tell, but also on an emotional level, because Africa will always be our motherland - our ancestral home. Surely her wild places, the land where we ourselves were made, deserve our respect and our protection for ever."
"Hello Ida-May
Congratulations!
I am pleased to confirm that we recently made you am offer on MA Wildlife Filmmaking."This course is the stuff of dreams for anyone with a passion for wildlife. Connected to the world-leading BBC Natural History Unit we have a line-up of top filmmakers coming in to speak with us and train us to be the next generation to film the wild world - next week James Honeyborne, series producer of this years 'Africa', is visiting, and in weeks to come my favourite cameraman, Doug Allan. We are to attend all the big wildlife filmmaker events and will even possibly get opportunities to get some work on current programmes (perhaps just getting coffee, but I really don't mind)!! Our final projects will be making our own professional standard 20-30 minute films and will be linked with a mentor who has worked on similar projects.
 |
| Doug Allan - Camera man |
 |
| James Honeyborne |
I'm not saying all this to show off or make you seethe with jealousy. I just simply cannot believe it myself that I am having this opportunity and putting in down in words makes it somewhat more real. 16 people world wide have been chosen for a place in the second year of the course running. Goosebumps cover my skin as I realise the life I am about to embark on... Could this dream really become a reality?
My plan for this blog now is to write twice a week - one post continuing to write as I have been for the past 4 months on wildlife and conservation issues, and one as an update on what is going on with my course. Although there will likely be a few weeks where work takes over and this is not possible!
AFRICA
So, in beginning my life as a Wildlife Filmmaker I have been reading up about past documentaries made by the BBC and I wanted to share on here what I have learnt about the recent series "Africa" and the struggles, and amazing moments that the filmmakers faced.
"AFRICA - Eye to Eye with the Unknown" is written by Michael Bright covering all the amazing footage we saw in the documentary first shown in January.
In the forward written by David Attenborough he depicts the main issues facing the research and production team: "Big television series need new, un-filmed stories". The problem is Africa is possibly the most filmed continent on Earth, so finding new stories to uncover was never going to be easy: it took 18 months of research before they began to find stories of animals behaving a little, well, differently. This meant working closely with scientists and conservationists who have been studying and caring for the animals, ones who would go into places no one else would dare to travel. But this allowed them to film behaviour which has only just begun to be researched and discovered - such as the Fork Tailed Drongo's learning to trick meerkats out of a meal, and chimpanzees using up to 4 different tools to extract honey from a bees nest.
Another way of making things look different to past series was, alongside the latest camera technologies, adopting a series wide filming style. James Honeyborne, series producer, made the decision that every animal should be filmed at eye level and seeing what they're seeing from the perspective they see it. This meant crawling down in the dirt with ants and even, for cameraman Richard Matthews, sitting on the back of a dead whale as thirty great white sharks fed on it. A new generation of miniature remotely operated cameras were also used - although some of these took a battering from curious lions and elephants.
 |
| In the Serengeti a young lion chooses a rather expensive toy to play with! |
The filmmakers did not have an easy or a luxurious time - they would spend all the hours in a day for up to thirty days waiting to get the shot that fitted in with the required story. This sometimes meant sitting covered in a swarm of angry bees, or out in 50 degree temperatures when all animals except one species was hidden away from the killer heat. The majority of the crews food consisted of bread, rice and pasta... cameraman Alastair MacEwen and assistant producer Rosie Thomas were presented with fish porridge every day. In some parts of the country the crews faced enormous dangers, such as Felicity and Barrie Britton who were one day surrounded by men carrying AK47's and arrested for 24 hours on suspicion of illegal entry and subversive activities.
But at the end of it all the team captured some absolutely incredible footage, and saw things that they will probably never experience again in their lives. The entire series was an incredible piece of work with some absolutely stunning scenes. It was put together with a gentle ease with which you entirely forget all the struggles and difficulties that went in to making it (or at least we, the audience, do)! This series contains some of my very favourite sequences of wildlife films.
James Honeyborne closes off the book with a wonderful paragraph about the future of Africa:
"Our hope is that as Africa continues her inevitable journey towards modernisation, what has kept her wild places so special is not completely lost, both on a practical level, because we know there are still so many scientific discoveries to be revealed and amazing stories yet to tell, but also on an emotional level, because Africa will always be our motherland - our ancestral home. Surely her wild places, the land where we ourselves were made, deserve our respect and our protection for ever."
Sunday 15 September 2013
SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST?
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace are the two men that made one of the greatest discoveries of our scientific age. Separately, but at the same time, they discovered the Theory of Evolution. This, as I am sure you know, is the theory that all animals (including ourselves) are the result of a millennia of trials and errors, survivals and mutations and the progression of life from a small single celled organism to a complex and intelligent being.
At the moment the biggest threat to the human species, and the rest of the planet, is overpopulation. Since the Black Death in the 1400's the population has been steadily growing. In the last 50 years, with advancement of medicine and increases in agricultural productivity our population has rocketed from around 3 billion to 7 billion people.
In most contemporary estimations for the carrying capacity of the Earth under existing conditions is around 4 billion and 16 billion, so depending on which estimations you follow we could potentially already be over populated. Overpopulation means not enough food and clean water, and a swift wipe out of un-renewable resources. If you look at the animal kingdom for an example of what happens when a species is over its capacity of an area you see that they simply starve to death and a whole population can be wiped out. Could this be the fate of human beings? Not, I think, of those with enough money.
I think that something we need to start looking at is a limitation on children in a family - I am not saying I support the Chinese one child rule which has led to enormous problems in the country. But in this country we allow, and financially support, those with a selfish desire to have a large family such as families that appeared in the Channel 4 program "15 Children and Counting".
These people selfishly display a human arrogance for not caring about the impact they have on the world. They argue that bigger families are better... But the question is for who? The children who have to fight against 14 others for mums attention? The tax-payer who funds their living? The planet on which they live which is straining under the impact of humans as it is?
With people living longer and more and more babies being born every year we need to set some rules in place because if we continue to expand as we are we are going to eventually wipe out our own species.
And I really don't believe that we have the ability to adapt to survive any more.
Please share your thoughts on this topic, I'd love to know what you think!
Evolution continues on, and though we may not be able to see its immediate effects it is continually shaping the wildlife and the world around us. And yet it could be argued that the human race has climaxed on the scale of evolution - can we go any further, can we be any more successful? With today's medicine curing all diseases I believe that we are now preventing what has made us who we are and destroying that crucial element of survival:
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." - Charles DarwinThe problem is that nowadays what keeps us surviving is not strength of genetics, nor mutations that allow one line of families to survive over another, but the money we have in our pockets. With access to money we can pay to fight disease, we can pay for clean water and better housing and so those that survive are those with the most money.
At the moment the biggest threat to the human species, and the rest of the planet, is overpopulation. Since the Black Death in the 1400's the population has been steadily growing. In the last 50 years, with advancement of medicine and increases in agricultural productivity our population has rocketed from around 3 billion to 7 billion people.
 |
| World Population Curve - sourced from Wikipedia (sorry!) |
In most contemporary estimations for the carrying capacity of the Earth under existing conditions is around 4 billion and 16 billion, so depending on which estimations you follow we could potentially already be over populated. Overpopulation means not enough food and clean water, and a swift wipe out of un-renewable resources. If you look at the animal kingdom for an example of what happens when a species is over its capacity of an area you see that they simply starve to death and a whole population can be wiped out. Could this be the fate of human beings? Not, I think, of those with enough money.
I think that something we need to start looking at is a limitation on children in a family - I am not saying I support the Chinese one child rule which has led to enormous problems in the country. But in this country we allow, and financially support, those with a selfish desire to have a large family such as families that appeared in the Channel 4 program "15 Children and Counting".
 |
| The ever-growing Watson family who get more than £2000 a month in state handouts See Source Here |
These people selfishly display a human arrogance for not caring about the impact they have on the world. They argue that bigger families are better... But the question is for who? The children who have to fight against 14 others for mums attention? The tax-payer who funds their living? The planet on which they live which is straining under the impact of humans as it is?
With people living longer and more and more babies being born every year we need to set some rules in place because if we continue to expand as we are we are going to eventually wipe out our own species.
And I really don't believe that we have the ability to adapt to survive any more.
Please share your thoughts on this topic, I'd love to know what you think!
Monday 9 September 2013
Why I want to save Wildlife
I want to start off this post by apologising for the long gap between blogging - for the first time since I began writing 'Where The Wild Things Are' I have let life get in my way!! Amongst moving house, my step-mothers huge 60th birthday, my car failing it's MOT and a variety of other things I have been somewhat distracted from it. I just want to take this chance to thank everyone who regularly (or in-regularly) reads this blog - I cannot believe the ways in which it has taken off, so thank you for reading and please keep coming back :)
Anyway! Back to the nitty-gritty! I realised that I have been writing this blog for the past three months and ranting about various wildlife issues I haven't really set down WHY it means so much to me, and why I believe that one of the most important tasks ahead of the human race is to save and protect our wildlife.
Like so many I grew up with a love of animals, despite spending my childhood tucking my toes away from my overly-ferocious cat, I would spend hours pouring over magazines with picture of cute bunnies and plastering them all over my bedroom wall, my favourite stories were the "Animal Ark" series in which a young girl spends all her time rescuing injured animals, and my dream was to work as a vet. But also like so many as I grew older I realised that my disgust at needles and blood was perhaps too big to overcome for that profession! Going through school my choices changed and my decisions seemed to lead me away from what I loved most as a child - I went to University to study Drama.
As my three years of study came to an end I turned my mind to what I would do next... I enjoyed drama, and I did well in it, but was it really what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? Was I really passionate enough about it to face all the rejections and struggle to make it? When I really looked at it the answer was, sadly, no. I visited my Careers Adviser looking for a bit of direction but when she told me that a good career path was in becoming a PA I realised I was desperate for a big change. So I reverted back to something that I have always loved, animals! And I booked on for three months volunteering in Africa on a wildlife reserve (See 'Volunteering in Africa') thinking I could give myself a bit of time to think on my future. What I didn't realise was what this would awaken in me.
I have always been aware of endangered species and the fact that humans are pretty much single-handedly destroying our planet beyond repair, but I think that it was always slightly unreal for me. I was very detached from it and felt it didn't really affect me that much. But having the opportunity to see animals living in the wild (or as wild as can be within a game reserve fence) and to see hundreds of kilometres of land undamaged by human buildings I think I began to see what the world could be like if we took a big step backwards. I'm not saying that I think we should stop developing, or that we should knock down all our cities and live like Tarzan. But if we can learn to live alongside plants, trees and animals I think our planet would be a much happier place.
Our wildlife is fundamental to save not only because animals are beautiful and amazing, but because the entirety of nature is essential for our own survival. Every part of nature stitches together to create the world that we live in. Take, for example, the humble bee...
Bee's pollinate a huge percentage of our plants and trees. If bumblebees were to go extinct (and there is currently a severe decline in bees in the UK) we would have to self-pollinate thousands of crops, a job that would have to be done by hand with meticulous precision. Without the plants and trees that bees pollinate the amount of oxygen that they produce could in no way be replicated and the human race would simply suffocate.
So that is one small example - why then, is it so important to the human species to save animals like Tigers?
Tigers play an important role in a fragile ecological balance. Take, for example, the jungles of India. With tigers, who are at the top of the food chain, wiped out the numbers of deer, wild pig and antelope would explode. Excessive numbers of these herbivorous animals would ravage the vegetation. Without the vegetation smaller animals and insects could not survive. These would move out of the jungle to feed on crops in the surrounding farmlands thus destroying a vital food source for humans.
Our world is in a fragile balance and each part we destroy we are slowly destroying for ourselves. Yes it is unlikely to affect us any time soon, and many of us will be long gone before we see the final devastating effects. But we will see the effects, and they are happening all around us. You may not notice them immediately but they are there.
The worst part is we have the knowledge and technology to live sustainably - for years and years electric cars have been available and solar energy has been easily harnessable. But big money-making oil companies have stepped in the way of development because they fear the loss of their profits. It sickens me down to the core that people are willing to sacrifice our environment and futures for profit. We need to take some serious steps and force the hands of our governments to invest in our futures and the future of our wildlife.
Overall the most important part for me is not the impact on humanity - yes I am scared to run out of resources and the impacts it could have on my life. But even more scary to me is to live in a world of concrete and processed material - where everything is plastic and glass and animals live in cages. Our wildlife is beautiful, a phenomenon, and yet we throw it away with such ease and disrespect. I am disgusted and ashamed to be a part of this. That is why I want to save our wildlife.
I know that sitting down and writing a blog post twice a week isn't going to change much, but whilst I work my way up until I am able to do something real I hope that perhaps my post will make one or two people think differently. Maybe...
Anyway! Back to the nitty-gritty! I realised that I have been writing this blog for the past three months and ranting about various wildlife issues I haven't really set down WHY it means so much to me, and why I believe that one of the most important tasks ahead of the human race is to save and protect our wildlife.
Like so many I grew up with a love of animals, despite spending my childhood tucking my toes away from my overly-ferocious cat, I would spend hours pouring over magazines with picture of cute bunnies and plastering them all over my bedroom wall, my favourite stories were the "Animal Ark" series in which a young girl spends all her time rescuing injured animals, and my dream was to work as a vet. But also like so many as I grew older I realised that my disgust at needles and blood was perhaps too big to overcome for that profession! Going through school my choices changed and my decisions seemed to lead me away from what I loved most as a child - I went to University to study Drama.
As my three years of study came to an end I turned my mind to what I would do next... I enjoyed drama, and I did well in it, but was it really what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? Was I really passionate enough about it to face all the rejections and struggle to make it? When I really looked at it the answer was, sadly, no. I visited my Careers Adviser looking for a bit of direction but when she told me that a good career path was in becoming a PA I realised I was desperate for a big change. So I reverted back to something that I have always loved, animals! And I booked on for three months volunteering in Africa on a wildlife reserve (See 'Volunteering in Africa') thinking I could give myself a bit of time to think on my future. What I didn't realise was what this would awaken in me.
I have always been aware of endangered species and the fact that humans are pretty much single-handedly destroying our planet beyond repair, but I think that it was always slightly unreal for me. I was very detached from it and felt it didn't really affect me that much. But having the opportunity to see animals living in the wild (or as wild as can be within a game reserve fence) and to see hundreds of kilometres of land undamaged by human buildings I think I began to see what the world could be like if we took a big step backwards. I'm not saying that I think we should stop developing, or that we should knock down all our cities and live like Tarzan. But if we can learn to live alongside plants, trees and animals I think our planet would be a much happier place.
 |
| Mariepskop Mountain looking over Blyde River Canyon |
Our wildlife is fundamental to save not only because animals are beautiful and amazing, but because the entirety of nature is essential for our own survival. Every part of nature stitches together to create the world that we live in. Take, for example, the humble bee...
Bee's pollinate a huge percentage of our plants and trees. If bumblebees were to go extinct (and there is currently a severe decline in bees in the UK) we would have to self-pollinate thousands of crops, a job that would have to be done by hand with meticulous precision. Without the plants and trees that bees pollinate the amount of oxygen that they produce could in no way be replicated and the human race would simply suffocate.
So that is one small example - why then, is it so important to the human species to save animals like Tigers?
Tigers play an important role in a fragile ecological balance. Take, for example, the jungles of India. With tigers, who are at the top of the food chain, wiped out the numbers of deer, wild pig and antelope would explode. Excessive numbers of these herbivorous animals would ravage the vegetation. Without the vegetation smaller animals and insects could not survive. These would move out of the jungle to feed on crops in the surrounding farmlands thus destroying a vital food source for humans.
Our world is in a fragile balance and each part we destroy we are slowly destroying for ourselves. Yes it is unlikely to affect us any time soon, and many of us will be long gone before we see the final devastating effects. But we will see the effects, and they are happening all around us. You may not notice them immediately but they are there.
The worst part is we have the knowledge and technology to live sustainably - for years and years electric cars have been available and solar energy has been easily harnessable. But big money-making oil companies have stepped in the way of development because they fear the loss of their profits. It sickens me down to the core that people are willing to sacrifice our environment and futures for profit. We need to take some serious steps and force the hands of our governments to invest in our futures and the future of our wildlife.
Overall the most important part for me is not the impact on humanity - yes I am scared to run out of resources and the impacts it could have on my life. But even more scary to me is to live in a world of concrete and processed material - where everything is plastic and glass and animals live in cages. Our wildlife is beautiful, a phenomenon, and yet we throw it away with such ease and disrespect. I am disgusted and ashamed to be a part of this. That is why I want to save our wildlife.
I know that sitting down and writing a blog post twice a week isn't going to change much, but whilst I work my way up until I am able to do something real I hope that perhaps my post will make one or two people think differently. Maybe...
Sunday 1 September 2013
AN INSUFFERABLE NEED TO TOUCH WILD ANIMALS
Whilst I think it is fantastic that people have a fascination, love, and passion for wildlife I am continually battered by these animal lovers having an unquenchable desire to touch, hug and kiss animals that should be left to be wild.
Every day I come across pictures such as this:
And this:
Whilst it might be an incredible experience for you - the tourist, the trainer or the keeper, what is it that makes you think that the animal wants to be in this situation?
Okay, I will openly admit that I have had my share of getting up close to wild animals:
I enjoyed the experience - to be able to get up close to these animals, I will admit, is incredible. But I enjoyed far more seeing animals out in the wild. To go out and find animals living a natural life... That is something else.
This post has been triggered by an article I read this morning:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2407513/Student-19-mauled-400lb-tiger-Thailand-popular-tourist-attraction.html#ixzz2dd6t4uez
Isabella Brennan visited Tiger Temple Tours in Thailand where she was allowed to pet tigers in an enclosure (which were tethered and chained) before moving on to washing them.
Have I changed your mind on any issues today? Please comment and share and let the world know we want our wildlife to remain wild.
Every day I come across pictures such as this:
And this:
Whilst it might be an incredible experience for you - the tourist, the trainer or the keeper, what is it that makes you think that the animal wants to be in this situation?
Okay, I will openly admit that I have had my share of getting up close to wild animals:
 |
| This baboon was orphaned at a young age because a human shot it's mother. It was rescued and raised at N/an ku se Wildlife Sanctuary where it will stay for the rest of it's life - if released it would soon find it's way back to humans and as a fully grown baboon would be very dangerous. In this situation we were taking the young baboons out of their enclosure to forage and play in a wild reserve. They follow and return with the humans to their enclosure with no force. They spend around an hour a day out with people. |
 |
| This is Samera, an elderly cheetah who was kept as a pet for 10 years and given a poor diet that barely kept her healthy. Eventually she was given to Na'an ku se who keep her in a large enclosure by herself with plenty of cover. However because of her constant interaction with humans throughout her life when left with no human contact she would become clearly despondent and depressed. Her contact with humans is for a maximum of thirty minutes a day - the rest of the time she can enjoy her retirement in peace. |
 |
| Lion Cub - Shamwari Game Reserve |
STUDENT, 19, MAULED BY 400lb TIGER AT POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2407513/Student-19-mauled-400lb-tiger-Thailand-popular-tourist-attraction.html#ixzz2dd6t4uez
Isabella Brennan visited Tiger Temple Tours in Thailand where she was allowed to pet tigers in an enclosure (which were tethered and chained) before moving on to washing them.
 |
| Isabella Brennan petting a sleeping tiger. |
The tigers have supposedly been raised from birth by Buddhist monks and therefore are completely tame. But anyone who knows anything about wild carnivores know that none can be tamed completely. Moments after this photograph was taken Isabella was attacked by another tiger who sunk its teeth into her thigh. She was rescued when keepers intervened and her sister dragged her away. Eight weeks on and she is still unable to walk unaided, and will now be scarred for life. She is lucky to be alive.
It is hugely questionable about the welfare of these animals - whilst they may look healthy and well fed there are many rumours that the animals are drugged to ensure they cannot attack humans. For hours a day they are paraded around, stroked, teased and accosted by people. I even found this photograph on their website:
The problem is that tourists are either too blind-sighted to see what is happening, or too bloody selfish to care. See some of the reviews I have found:
"Did the V.I.P tour with tour with tong. Our guide was fantastic as she had been on our Bangkok tour but I am in two minds about the tiger temple. I am sure the tigers are big enough to look after themselves but one of the keepers kicked a tiger in the head to try get a toy back off it. Not impressed. The tigers look healthy and I'm sure they are reasonably well looked after."
"The areal is quiet big...the tigers seemed careless and were on very short chain accompanied by monks. We took very quickly few photos...and everything passed so fast that I almost didn't realize I was next to tigers.... It´s difficult to say if the animals are treated well or not, they looked healthy but on another hand sad. The necessity to have tiger on short chains is understandable for a short time due to safety of people... The attitude of people working there is week point of this place!!!"
The place is not a conservation site. The tigers are not there for their welfare but only as a money-making tourist attraction. They are bred (and possibly taken from the wild as small cubs) and raised by people who only care to make a quick buck. Another case of human selfishness that makes me ashamed to be one of my species.
It is hugely questionable about the welfare of these animals - whilst they may look healthy and well fed there are many rumours that the animals are drugged to ensure they cannot attack humans. For hours a day they are paraded around, stroked, teased and accosted by people. I even found this photograph on their website:
The problem is that tourists are either too blind-sighted to see what is happening, or too bloody selfish to care. See some of the reviews I have found:
"Leave
your MORALS at the gate. This is truly an unforgettable experience .
Wheather it's right or wrong this is Thailand , too be able to have
the opportunity with these Tigers we will never forget."
"Did the V.I.P tour with tour with tong. Our guide was fantastic as she had been on our Bangkok tour but I am in two minds about the tiger temple. I am sure the tigers are big enough to look after themselves but one of the keepers kicked a tiger in the head to try get a toy back off it. Not impressed. The tigers look healthy and I'm sure they are reasonably well looked after."
"The areal is quiet big...the tigers seemed careless and were on very short chain accompanied by monks. We took very quickly few photos...and everything passed so fast that I almost didn't realize I was next to tigers.... It´s difficult to say if the animals are treated well or not, they looked healthy but on another hand sad. The necessity to have tiger on short chains is understandable for a short time due to safety of people... The attitude of people working there is week point of this place!!!"
The place is not a conservation site. The tigers are not there for their welfare but only as a money-making tourist attraction. They are bred (and possibly taken from the wild as small cubs) and raised by people who only care to make a quick buck. Another case of human selfishness that makes me ashamed to be one of my species.
So
many people who claim to be animal lovers will pay for this
experience, perfectly that it is not right. P
Take a look at this video and tell me if you think this is right?! These animals look exhausted to me. And take note of the woman pushing the tigers head under the water.
Take a look at this video and tell me if you think this is right?! These animals look exhausted to me. And take note of the woman pushing the tigers head under the water.
Now
take a look at tigers in the wild.... See the difference?
Yes
it's cool to get close to wild animals, but my god is it wrong.
Animals have a right to live in the wild, and not be some money
making tourist attraction that spends it's life on a chain. Yes you might be an animal lover, but love them from a distance, enjoy their beauty and the knowledge that they are truly wild.
Have I changed your mind on any issues today? Please comment and share and let the world know we want our wildlife to remain wild.
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