Tiger's

Tigers in Chiang Mai.

I didn't quite realise the controversy that these photos may cause. I suppose I can be naïve at times. I've swam with Whale Sharks, stayed up all night to watch Green Sea Turtles lay their eggs, swam with dolphins, rode elephants, groomed Gibbons, played with Manta Rays and Monkeys and I own two very spoilt domestic cats. Is it OK for humans to play with wild animals, should we even keep any animal as a pet, should we work animals on farms? I don't know. What I do know is that some species will not be around for the next generation without conservation and conservation means money. No organisation is perfect. Does Tiger Kingdom make a profit, of course, however the animals that we saw were not drugged or harmed in any way. Tigers sleep for an extraordinary about of time, up to 15 hours a day. And just like my cats at home when they are asleep they are very docile. Most of the photos that we are in are of tigers that are asleep, this is because they are the easiest of be around, however every tiger we were with eventually woke up, wanted to play, raw or simply walked away from us. Some climbed trees, started fighting with other tigers or jumped into pools. When this happened we would be ushered to a different area or removed from the cage altogether. You will also note that we are always behind the tigers and weren't allowed to touch their heads. This again is for safety as when the tigers decided to move you needed to get out of their way. The handlers did dangle toys in front of the little tigers, up to 6 months old. The tigers seemed to think this was great. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and beliefs, for me as a mother I'm trying to instil a love and respect for animals in my children, so until I can take them to a national park to watch tigers roam free this will have to do!

             

Chiang Mai

More temples, more food and more markets.... I love Thailand. 

 

Mahout for the Day!

Happy Australia Day!

Today we had the privilege of visiting Patara Elephant Farm to be Mahouts for the day.... It was FABULOUS. We were paired, according to our personalities to an elephant. I was given an enormous male that was a ga-zillion feet tall with humongous tusks. The first thing they advise you is not to be afraid, I was friggin terrified. You then have to feed your elephant, brush your elephant, wash your elephant, walk your elephant and make sure you don't fall of your elephant!

After meeting our elephant we had to feed him or her to see if they liked us.

 Emily had a lovely small female elephant.

 This one is 18 months old and followed us the whole day. She was hilarious and really naughty...

 Tom brushing his elephant

Now into the river for a wash.

See the baby just beside Tom, she kept swimming around everywhere. You constantly had to pull your legs up out of her way....

  And we're off.....

Late in the afternoon when both us and the elephants were exhausted they asked if we would like to see their latest editions. Two baby elephants, one just 6 day's old and the other 4 week's old. We decided we could spare the time LOL  

This baby girl is just 6 days old and she was still 'wobbly' on her feet.....   

This is the 4 week old baby boy.....