Big Cat Encounters
Visit to the park with lessons on
big cats and close encounters with
Bengal Tigers.
Elephant Sanctuary
Visit to the protected reserve,
distributing food with the staff
and bathing the elephants.
Tiger Park
is a public park whose aim is to raise awareness about
the life of big cats (especially Bengal tigers)
and to raise funds to protect approximately 200 wild
tigers in protected areas.
Upon arrival we were
greeted by the "little cat" (Cheetah) with lots of
cuddles and purrs.
In order to enter we
are forced to sign the life insurance, they reassure us
by saying that the animals are calm, but they are still
wild animals.
They explain to us the method they use in the park: each
tiger is followed by a tutor from when it is a cub and
they are immediately accustomed to interacting and
socializing with people. At each "visit", the tutor will
always be present in the enclosure so that the tiger
does not feel threatened.
They then go on to
explain the program of the day.
It begins with a "lesson"
on tigers in which we are illustrated their growth, diet
and habits. Think that tigers are somewhat atypical
felines because they do not purr (when you hear a
similar sound it means they are getting nervous) and
they love water (they spend a lot of time in the water
and are skilled swimmers).
So we arrive at the
first cage, with a one and a half month old cub.
We continue with a pair
of siblings, a male and female, about 1 year old. They
invite us to be careful because at that age they love to
play and can hurt people without wanting to.
Before
proceeding to the adult cage, they show us the
size of an adult, giving me a "skewer" with some
meat and asking me to place it as high as
possible (consider that I am 1.75m tall).
We take advantage
of this to eat some food too.
After lunch,
they give us another briefing in which they
explain some peculiarities of the Bengal Tiger,
such as the appearance in the adult phase of a
white spot on the back of the ears, which the
cub sees as "eyes" and which help it to follow
its parents.
For safety reasons,
they warn us that it will be possible to interact only
with the males as they are not territorial (unlike the
females who tend to protect their territory when they
have cubs).
They also explain to us how to behave inside the cage
where we cannot do "what we want" as with the younger
specimens, but we must follow specific rules, for
example never stand in front of the tiger and do not
touch its face.
We are asked again if we want to enter the cage and
indeed, in person, a bit of fear makes us hesitate. But
at this point we decide to enter.
The adult cages are very large, clean and with a
swimming pool and each cage contains 2 adult males.
What else to say. A
magnificent day. I have never felt such a thrill in my
life, mixed with the joy of having had the honor of
being in the presence of such a majestic animal.
Tiger Park
Phuket - Thailand
The Elephant Jungle
Sanctuary is a protected park where elephants
rescued from captivity (circuses, tourist sites...) are
reintroduced into the wild.
In the morning they show
us the park and explain everything about elephants, from
their diet to their habits.
As a first
step of approach they have us distribute lunch.
Then they explain
to us how to give "instructions" to the elephant
because we will have to, alone, take them to the
bath. They are very intelligent animals and with
a simple branch we can give them directions.
They warn us to keep an eye on their ears, if
they move them it means that they are happy and
that our presence is pleasant for them.
We put on our
bathing suits and within a few minutes we manage
to "train" our elephant and lead him to the "showers".
A beautiful
experience and much appreciation for the work
done by these people who save elephants from
mistreatment and raise awareness among visitors
on this issue. I was also very surprised by the
intelligence of these animals.
Elephant
Jungle Sanctuary
Chiang Mai - Thailand
It takes courage
to grow
up
and become who you really
are
