Have people really forgotten animal welfare?

[WillNicholls]

Slightly sad to wake up this morning and see another batch of photos from people of them touching tigers in Thailand etc.

Just one example of people not realising what goes on in the world. Even if the zoo is "good" (very unlikely in Thailand), it encourages "bad" zoos to poach cubs from their mothers so to imprint them on people and allow photographs to be taken.

A wild tiger roams up to 100 square km, not 20 square metres...

Sigh... Sometimes I just think that people forget that we have to care for the world around us and not just treat animals and the environment as pleasures to be exploited.

 

[SpikeK6]

I can see your point in the exploitation of tigers and other endangered species and the need for better enviroments for them, but I in my own mind would rather seee this than them being hunted to extinction in the wild.

I doubt hunting will ever stop as these people are the real problem, if the animals where just left to get on with life and evolution then everything would be fine

 

[WillNicholls]

I can see your point in the exploitation of tigers and other endangered species and the need for better enviroments for them, but I in my own mind would rather seee this than them being hunted to extinction in the wild.

I doubt hunting will ever stop as these people are the real problem, if the animals where just left to get on with life and evolution then everything would be fine

There are better ways to go about conserving tigers than exploiting them. IMO zoos have their place in conservation, with breeding programs etc. But animal welfare in Thailand is widely known as very poor. Instead of photographing the tigers with people and chaining them up, people could go and see them in a big enclosure in a better zoo. The exploitation fuels poaching, if demand for the tigers decreases so will the poaching. The poachers wouldn't do it without monetary gain. Yeah it isn't just the zoos, but it is part of it and something that needs to be combated along with the rest.

View points that have yet to reach the Far East it seems!

 

[faddius]

Can you blame them when foreigners go over and drop huge sums of money on a whim? The temptation is too great. The western world is just as much to blame and is the root source for a lot of problems in Thailand including prostitution (adult and child), drugs and animal parts. Of course Thai people will want some when they see that sort of money getting chucked around.

I once spent £600 with a friend on 1 night out there, to put it in perspective comparing it to the wage of an average worker (hotel maid etc), it would of been like me dropping £75k here in 1 night. However, I don't pursue prostitutes or drugs.

Also, fwiw most 'zoos' I've been to in Thailand do a far better job looking after animals than some of the zoos here.