Cry of the tiger

Chatraporn "Jang" Tamthong spends her working day caring for the dozens of tigers she has raised by hand.

As part of the team at Kanchanaburi's Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno -- better known as the Tiger Temple -- Ms Chatraporn says she has developed a strong bond with all of the cubs born there -- which number over 100 -- and considers them part of her family.

• VIDEO: Cats in captivity

But early this year, that family was torn apart. On Feb 23, officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) seized five of the temple's tigers and transferred them to a research station in Ratchaburi. It is preparing to take the remaining 142 cats.

Ms Chatraporn said her "heart was broken" when the tigers were taken away.

"These tigers were raised by humans and they are all used to close contact with humans," she said. "I don't know how they are going to be treated in the new home."

But while Ms Chatraporn may have been shocked, for many outside observers the only surprise in the DNP's decision to take the tigers was that it had taken so long.

That's because Ms Chatraporn's "family" has been dysfunctional for many years, with persistent allegations of illegal wildlife trafficking dogging senior temple figures.

While the DNP has threatened several times in the past to remove the temple's tiger population, this is the first time any cats have been removed from the premises.

"Just to be clear, the tigers are not theirs to keep," said Thanya Netithammakun, director-general of the DNP.

"They can't own wild animals."

BREEDING DISTRUST

The story of how the temple came to operate as a tiger sanctuary is as hazy as its modern operation.

But however the monks came to acquire their first animals, by 2001 the temple had seven adult tigers in its possession, despite having no legal authority to care for them.

When the DNP caught wind of what was happening, it decided to confiscate the cats, but changed its mind and allowed them to stay after the temple assured officials they were well looked after.

The tiger population soon began to grow rapidly. By 2007, according to the temple's website, 21 cubs had been born there.

Part of the current dispute centres on the temple arguing that only the original tigers belong to the DNP, and those born in captivity are property of the monks.

But Mr Thanya disagrees.

"Technically they are owned by the nation, and the DNP is in charge of all the nation's wildlife. We only gave the temple the temporary right to take care of all the tigers," he said.

REPORTING FOR ACTION

The DNP operation to seize the tigers in February came just days after the release of a report from an Australian NGO, Cee4life (Conservation and Environmental Education for Life), which claimed to have uncovered new evidence linking the temple to the slaughter and sale of tigers, as well as the illegal cross-border trade of live cats.

The report included what the group says are veterinary records from 1999 and 2000 indicating that four of the temple's original tigers were "wild caught" and a 2004 document stating that a female tiger had been "imported from Laos".

It also contained an audio recording purporting to be a conversation between the temple's abbot and its senior veterinarian about the three missing tigers.

The allegations are nothing new, however. A similar report in 2008 from British wildlife group Care for the Wild International made similar findings.

"Although the Tiger Temple may have begun as a rescue centre for tigers, it has become a breeding centre to produce and keep tigers solely for the tourists and therefore the temple's benefit," that report said.

"Illegal international trafficking helps to maintain the temples' captive tiger population. There is no possibility of the temple's breeding programme contributing to the conservation of the species in the wild."

Both the 2008 report and the most recent one claim that the temple has illegally traded its tigers with breeders in Laos to mix up the temple's genetic pool, an attempt to prevent inbreeding.

They also point to confined living conditions for the tigers, and the fact they are fed a diet of boiled chicken rather than raw red meat.

DUTY OF CARE

About a month after the five tigers were seized, Ms Chatraporn and several other tiger caretakers went to visit the cats at their new home in Khao Prathap Chang, in Ratchaburi province.

The research centre, located about 100km from the Tiger Temple, is connected to the Central Literature Botanic Garden and is home to a 16 hectare open zoo that allows visitors to get up close to a variety of free-roaming wildlife.

Many of the animals at Khao Prathap Chang were seized from illegal traders, though the facility is also used to breed endangered wild animals -- including tigers.

But Ms Chatraporn said the five tigers taken from the temple are being kept in tiny cages -- much smaller than what they had grown up in at the Tiger Temple.

"I am sure the cages at Khao Prathap Chang meet international standards, but our tigers have never lived in the limited space like this before in their lives," Ms Chatraporn said.

"The tigers are also used to interacting with humans and they love to be touched, but the DNP officials don't even get near them."

Defending the DNP's treatment of the animals, Mr Thanya said the size of the cages was less important than the facilities that were available to them.

"We have caves here for the tigers to hide in, we have toys for them, we have water wells for them and we have food that is suitable for carnivores like them," he said.

Mr Thanya told Spectrum it would be unlikely that the Tiger Temple would be able to stop the seizure of the animals, since it has no legal ownership of them.

The DNP plans to take between five and 10 tigers from the temple each week, transporting them to the Khao Prathap Chang facility.

"We are now waiting on a court ruling before we can start our operation. We are more than ready to take all the tigers and give them a new home," Mr Thanya said.

The existing tigers at Khao Prathap Chang, he added, would be transferred to other DNP research centres throughout the country to make the room for Tiger Temple cats.

Mr Thanya told Spectrum the Tiger Temple will not be able to keep any of the tigers they currently have, even if they receive the licence to legally operate as a zoo.

But he also seemingly left the door open to a compromise being reached.

"If they want the tigers in their zoo, they will have to pay us the money to rent them," he said.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

One of the primary problems is, from the Tiger Temple's perspective, that the facility is not legally classified as a zoo -- it has no legal basis for holding, and especially breeding, the cats. But an effort is under way to change that, potentially opening the door to Mr Thanya's "rental" proposal.

Pol Col Supitpong Pakdijarung, the vice-president of the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno Foundation, said "everything in my power is being done" to prevent more tigers being taken away from the temple, as the temple still believes it has legal custody and the right to take care of the animals.

In order to keep the temple's abbot, Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno, away from the commercial aspects of a zoo operation and avoid risking him being seen as greedy, Pol Col Supitpong said the board proposed separating the temple's operations into three parts: the Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno temple, Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno Foundation and the Tiger Temple Company.

Tiger Temple Co is now in the process of creating a legal tiger sanctuary, with the aim of running it as a tiger zoo similar to one in Si Racha, Chon Buri.

The company has applied for a zoo licence, and expects to receive it later this month.

The timing of that licence could prove significant. The DNP originally set a deadline of March 23 to confiscate the rest of the tigers, but later postponed it to a new date this month which has yet to be determined.

"We have more than 1,000 rai of land here which was purchased by the abbot legally," Pol Col Supitpong said.

"As part of the requirements to run the zoo, we can't open it at the existing area where all the tigers are living now. We plan to move all of them to a brand new location within the temple grounds which will be built on more than 20 rai of land, which is the same size as the area where they are now."

'IT WOULD SHOCK THE WORLD'

In an interview with Sanctuary Asia, Sybelle Foxcroft, who authored the Cee4life report, called the Tiger Temple's plans to obtain a zoo licence "disturbing".

"If that were to happen, it would be utterly despicable and it would certainly shock the world so much that it would be likely to have heavy repercussions on Thailand's [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species] membership," she told the magazine.

She said the criticism of living conditions at the DNP facility overlooked a central point.

"The Tiger Temple is an illegal national and international wildlife trading, tiger killing venue, which cannot be trusted with these or any other protected species.

"Now the tigers can live without the threat of a terrifying clandestine death by wildlife trade."

Workers at the Tiger Temple say the allegations against the facility are unfounded, and that it is far better equipped to care for the tigers than government authorities despite claims from the DNP that it is ready to handle all of the cats.

Ms Chatraporn, the caretaker, said she is particularly worried about a five-year-old male tiger called Nua Mek, one of the five that were seized in February, since it had been separated from its brother Mek Nua.

They usually spend all day together side by side in the same cage, she said.

"I called his name when I arrived and he recognised me. However, he looked a bit scared and depressed," she said. "We are all worried about their poor living conditions, and with their lack of human contact the way they are used to."

Ms Chatraporn said she was forbidden from taking her own photographs inside Khao Prathap Chang, although officials there offered to take some for her and send them via email.

Staff members at the temple have created a Facebook page, called "Save the Tigers of Tiger Temple", which they say is aimed at raising awareness among supporters.

Much of the page's news feed is dedicated to comparison photos which claim to show superior living conditions at the temple compared to the DNP facility.

"I don't expect the DNP to give us those tigers back. All we all really want is that they don't come to take any more tigers from us," Ms Chatraporn said.

SLEEPING GIANTS

The temple's large plot of land is divided into several sections. Most of the tigers are kept in one relatively small section, locked in high-security cages. Nearby are the areas where the tigers are allowed to interact with tourists who pay to visit the temple.

Inside the cage section, Spectrum heard a group of women screaming in both excitement and fear. Three tigers in a locked cage were standing on one side of the bars while tourists on the other side teased them with a toy made from a long pole with fluffy material dangling from one end.

The three tigers looked active and alive -- while critics deride the "teasing" as an act of cruelty, temple staff say the tourist interaction provides much-needed exercise for the animals and helps keep them alert and healthy.

Inside another cage though, several tigers were asleep while others walked sluggishly through open areas attached to their cages.

The temperature outside was pushing 38C and the tigers didn't seem to be enjoying the heat. They stayed around the water bowl inside the cage to keep cool.

Ms Chatraporn said the tigers generally sleep 20 hours per day, and are awake only at night. During the day, she said, they are mostly inactive. It is for this reason that tourists can get so close to the cats during the day without being mauled. Gender is also another factor that can influence the cats' behaviour, she said.

"Females tend to be more active than males. Male tigers are lazy and they just want to sleep. That's why we locked the female tigers away while we allow the tourists to interact with the male tigers," Ms Chatraporn said.

CALL OF THE WILD

Although allegations of drugging the tigers have been levelled at the temple for years, no evidence has been uncovered to suggest that is the case.

A veterinarian who specialises in working with wild animals told Spectrum on condition of anonymity that the animals at the Tiger Temple will not behave in the same way as wild cats, since they have been raised in captivity.

"They don't have to hunt, I don't think they know how to do that any more. They are no longer wild animals; they are basically domesticated," the source said.

Still, he said, the tigers have certain instincts which will never disappear. They are irritable and sensitive, for example. If something touches them while they are asleep, the vet said, the animals will definitely be aware of it and can be very jumpy; their instinct is to protect themselves.

It is a common sight at the temple to see staff members lift a tiger by its collar and place its head onto the lap of a tourist awaiting a photo. The tigers appear docile and lethargic, not interacting with their surroundings.

"I won't say they are drugged because I don't know for a fact. But I dare you to draw their blood and have me check it. You might be surprised what the result is," the source said.

TRADING BLAME

One of the core revelations in Cee4life's report was what it said was CCTV footage from the temple gates. The footage showed cars entering and leaving the facility late at night on three occasions in late 2014. On each of those occasions, the group said, staff the next morning found a tiger missing.

All three tigers had been microchipped and registered with the government, according to the temple's longtime veterinarian, Somchai Visasmongkolchai.

But in February last year, Dr Somchai resigned and went to the authorities. He handed over three microchips, which he said had been cut out of the tigers.

Then in April, government authorities went to the temple. They confirmed the tigers were missing -- and also discovered that 13 tigers lacked microchips. The carcass of a tiger was found in a freezer.

The revelation fed doubts about the temple's true tiger population. Even now, the temple's official website says there were 167 tigers as of April last year. Now, there are only 147 including those seized by the DNP in February.

Col Supitpong told Spectrum all of the allegations made against them in the past few years are now in the courts, and declined to comment on specific allegations.

But he claimed the disputes stemmed from an "outside organisation" that wanted in invest in building a tiger sanctuary with them.

He was referring to Four Paws, an international wildlife conservation group that runs sanctuaries and research centres in Europe and Africa. Four Paws contacted Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno, the abbot of the temple, in 2014 in an effort to encourage the temple to help develop a proper wildlife sanctuary in Thailand.

While the details of the proposal were not clear, according to Col Supitpong, Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno felt that following Four Paws' recommendations would be tantamount to turning the temple into a business. Because of that, he refused to work with the group.

Four Paws did not immediately respond to Spectrum's request for comment last week.

But in a press release issued in April last year, the group said it had been trying to convince the monks to open a properly regulated sanctuary in Thailand.

"We have been trying for some time now to convince the management of the temple that the tigers are clearly not kept in a species appropriate way," Four Paws vet Amir Khalil said.

"The animals are exposed daily to large numbers of visitors which causes constant stress, they are fed the wrong food and spend most of their time in small concrete cages or are kept chained in the temple area.

"In addition, there is no controlled breeding programme, many animals exhibit characteristics of inbreeding. This is definitely not an endangered species programme, but a tourist attraction, at the expense of the animals."

HITTING BACK

Col Supitpong also offered some explanation into the missing three tigers, blaming it on Dr Somchai, the vet who exposed the scandal.

Spectrum attempted to contact Dr Somchai, but he was not available for comment.

At a press conference on March 20 last year, however, Dr Somchai appeared to point the finger higher up the chain of command at the Tiger Temple.

He said all of the tigers are locked behind high-security doors, each with multiple locks. If a person is not high-ranking enough, it would be impossible to remove three tigers.

With so many staff working there around the clock, he also said it would have been impossible that nobody noticed.

Dr Somchai said he stepped forward with the evidence because he was concerned that it could happen again, adding it would be very easy for the temple to be turned into a hub for tiger trafficking.

CLOSE TO HOME

On Sept 10, 2012, the then DNP director-general Damrong Pidej visited the temple to investigate trafficking allegations.

He later told the media the Tiger Temple has better facilities to take care of the tigers than the DNP does, and allowed the tigers to remain there until state authorities were better prepared to handle such a large volume of the big cats.

That visit in 2012 was one of several to the temple by state authorities who have tried to remove various endangered wildlife. Each time they have been blocked, and rumours have swirled of powerful figures backing the temple behind the scenes.

In February last year, after Dr Somchai went to authorities with the microchips, 100 tigers were "confiscated" by the DNP, but were allowed to stay temporarily at the temple.

In April, 100 monks and disciples barricaded the temple entrance as authorities moved in to seize six endangered Asian black bears -- part of a wide array of endangered wildlife being kept illegally at the temple.

Two weeks after the bears were removed, however, the DNP relented and allowed the temple to keep the 100 "confiscated" tigers.

The temple was, however, banned from charging its usual 600 baht entrance fee, although that order appears to have been ignored -- tours booked through the official website start from 3,700 baht per couple.

Despite the DNP claiming ownership of all the tigers, it has pushed the entire cost burden of their upkeep onto the temple.

The monks say they face huge daily food bills, and rely on entrance fees and donations to cover costs.

VIEW FROM INSIDE

Tunya, a British volunteer, has been at the Tiger Temple for six and a half years. She had heard rumours of drugging and other mistreatment before her arrival, but said during her time there she has found no evidence to substantiate those claims.

"It's purely from the lack of understanding about tigers' habits. They [critics] just don't have any clue and start making crazy allegations against the temple," Tunya said.

Ms Chatraporn, the Tiger Temple caretaker, said the claims made by Cee4life were "not even 50%" true.

She said she had personally escorted Ms Foxcroft, the report's author, around the temple during the Australian's time as a volunteer there.

"She made up a lot of information and I have our own evidence to refute her allegation," Ms Chatraporn said.

"The report was inaccurate and very biased. I wouldn't take any of the information seriously."

She said the report, and the international media attention that it garnered, have taken a toll on the temple. Visitor numbers have dropped 50%, she said, to about 100 people per day.

Ms Chatraporn said she is concerned about the tigers' future if they are not allowed to stay at the temple.

"They deserve a better life in the environment where they have grown up," she said.

"They need to be touched by humans since that what they have been used to since they were born. If the DNP can't take good care of the tigers, we are more than willing to take care of them for as long as we live."