The image of the woman clutching the tiger’s testicles was posted in an Animal Lovers Facebook page with the caption: 'Pray in your heart and squeeze hard then you will be free from suffering'.
GAVIN BUTLER: Images of a woman fondling a tiger’s testicles at a zoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand have sparked social media backlash and reaffirmed concerns among animal welfare groups about the mistreatment of big cats in captivity. The tourist, who VICE News has chosen not to name, was widely criticised after posting a photo of herself clutching the cat’s testicles at Tiger Kingdom in Mae Rim last week.
“Pray in your heart and squeeze hard then you will be free from suffering” reads the caption… The image was posted in an “animal lovers” Facebook group, according to the Bangkok Herald, prompting fierce backlash from locals who accused the woman of “humiliating” the tiger, and the zoo of animal abuse…
The tiger, for his part, appears completely unfazed in the images. But it is precisely this detail that has raised serious concerns among animal rights groups, who have fought for years to raise awareness around the liberal use of sedative drugs in big cat parks and zoos across Southeast Asia…
A viral video of a heavily sedated lion being used as a photo prop at Thailand’s Taman Safari park in 2016 drew brief worldwide attention to the issue. In the footage, a park worker repeatedly pushes a drugged lion cub’s head up while visitors drape their arms over it and say “cheese” for the camera…
A spokesperson for AnimalsAsia… said “This is yet another example of the broader issue of the tragic exploitation of wildlife,” they said. “Many of the animals used for photo opportunities like these are stolen from the wild by traffickers and spend their entire lives as little more than a prop, never being able to express normal behaviour…
Nirali Shah, a senior campaigner at PETA Asia told VICE News over email. “Tigers and other big cats used for photo ops are regularly drugged because zoos cannot tame them. Captivity is a living hell for tigers like this one, and they live in constant stress, anxiety, and agitation every day”. SOURCE…
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