The Sriracha
Tiger Zoo is in Sriracha, a city on the outskirts of Pattaya, a seaside city in
Chonburi Province, Thailand. It is about 97 km (60 mi) from Bangkok and just 30
minutes’ south of Pattaya by car. The zoo claims a population of well over 200
tigers and around 10,000 crocodiles, the largest such populations in the world.
Open in
1997, the tiger zoo covers a vast 400,000sqm area. The zoo is divided into four
zones: tiger breeding zone, talent show zone, crocodile zone and animal zone.
The main attraction is the tiger cub feeding room, which showcases tiger cubs
and piglets living and feeding in the same cage, the Elephant show, Crocodile
show and the Tiger show. For an extra fee, you can feed the cubs and have your
picture taken with them.
What do
Bengal tigers, dogs and pigs have in common? After all, they’re all members of
the animal kingdom but they come from completely different families. At
Sriracha Tiger Zoo, though, you will find them all living together in harmony,
thanks to the zoo’s rather unique feeding programme. Witness mother pigs feed
tiger cubs alongside their piglets; have your picture taken with the cubs;
watch the various shows, or enjoy riding on an elephant. Also, meet and feed
the ostriches, single hump camels, kangaroos and an aviary of exotic birds.
This is one place for families to enjoy quality time together.
Here is a
video made by me of exclusively Sriracha Tiger Zoo and the Tiger Show:
VIDEO:
Tigers are
the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and
strength.
Coming to
the tigers at Sriracha, they are all Bengal Tigers, the Royal Bengal Tigers,
which have Indian origins, as the name indicates. Tigers are icons of beauty
and power. It is our National Animal and that of Bangladesh too. As Indians, we
are proud of tigers which at one time existed in very large numbers in most
parts of our country. During my childhood at Kothagudem, I used to hear of
tigers and cheetahs in the nearby forests. Hunters came here not specifically
for these wild animals, but mostly for sambar deer, spotted deer, wild boar,
rabbits and waterfowl. I remember a few
personal incidents from my childhood involving tigers at Kothagudem. When
attacked by a tiger a farmer fought it with his sickle and in the process, both
the huge tiger and the fragile farmer died. Their bodies were brought on
bullock carts to the house and office of the RDO (Revenue Divisional Officer),
our neighbour, for financial assistance to the farmer‘s family and maybe some
award. I witnessed this entire scene. Another incident was of tiger pug marks
seen very close to our house at the spray pond of the thermal power station
adjacent to our house, where the tiger came to drink water. I was a part of the small crowd that went and
witnessed these pug marks. Yet another incident is when our family was invited
to visit a circus in the town during day time to see the caged and other birds
and animals, and the circus artists practising for their shows. I got to hold a
tiger cub, the size of a fully grown cat, for some time. And now at Sriracha, I
and my wife got to carry an almost fully grown tiger on our laps and feed milk!
You can see this in the attached pictures and video.
There were
eight tiger subspecies at one time, but three became extinct during the 20th
century. Over the last 100 years, hunting and forest destruction have reduced
tiger populations from hundreds of thousands of animals to perhaps fewer than 4,500,
the world over. Tigers are hunted as trophies, and also for body parts that are
used in traditional Chinese medicine. All five remaining tiger subspecies are
at risk, and many protection programs are in place.
Males have
an average total length of 270 to 310 cm (110 to 120 in) including the tail,
while females measure 240 to 265 cm (94 to 104 in) on average. The tail is
typically 85 to 110 cm (33 to 43 in) long, and on average, tigers are 90 to 110
cm (35 to 43 in) in height at the shoulders. The weight of males ranges from
180 to 258 kg (397 to 569 lb), while that of the females ranges from 100 to 160
kg (220 to 350 lb). The smallest recorded weights for Bengal tigers are from
the Bangladesh Sundarbans, where adult females are 75 to 80 kg (165 to 176 lb).
The tiger
has exceptionally stout teeth. Its canines are 7.5 to 10 cm (3.0 to 3.9 in)
long and thus the longest among all cats. The greatest length of its skull is
332 to 376 mm (13.1 to 14.8 in).
Bengal
tigers live mostly in India and are sometimes called Indian tigers. They are
the most common tigers and number about half of all wild tigers. Over many
centuries they have become an important part of Indian tradition and lore.
The Bengal
tiger ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong
to the world's charismatic megafauna. The Bengal tiger's coat is yellow to
light orange, with stripes ranging from dark brown to black; the belly and the
interior parts of the limbs are white, and the tail is orange with black rings.
Bengal
tigers weigh up to 325 kg (717 lb) and reach a head and body length of 320 cm
(130 in). Several scientists indicated that adult male Bengal tigers from the
Terai in Nepal and Bhutan, and Assam, Uttarakhand and West Bengal in north
India consistently attain more than 227 kg (500 lb) of body weight.
The average
lifespan of Bengal tigers in the wild is 8 to 10 years. The maximum age of a
wild Bengal tiger is 15 years. But very few of them reach out to this limit in
the wild as finally they become too weak and lose the ability to hunt large
animals.
Tigers live
alone and aggressively, they scent-mark large territories to keep their rivals
away. They are powerful nocturnal hunters that travel many miles to find
buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals. Tigers use their distinctive
coats as camouflage (no two have exactly the same stripes). They lie in wait
and creep close enough to attack their victims with a quick spring and a fatal
pounce. A hungry tiger can eat as much as 60 pounds in one night, though they
usually eat less.
Despite
their fearsome reputation, most tigers avoid humans; however, a few do become
dangerous man-eaters. These man-eaters are often sick and unable to hunt
normally or live in an area where their traditional prey has vanished.
Females give
birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help
from the male. Cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old and remain with
their mothers for two to three years when they disperse to find their own
territory.
The basic
social unit of the tiger is the elemental one of the female and her offspring.
Adult animals congregate only temporarily when special conditions permit, such
as a plentiful supply of food. Otherwise, they lead solitary lives, hunting
individually for the forest and grassland animals, upon which they prey.
Resident adults of either sex maintain home ranges, confining their movements
to definite habitats within which they satisfy their needs and those of their
cubs, which include prey, water and shelter. In this site, they also maintain
contact with other tigers, especially those of the opposite sex. Those sharing
the same ground are well aware of each other's movements and activities.
Males reach
maturity at 4–5 years of age, and females at 3–4 years. A Bengal tiger comes
into heat at intervals of about 3–9 weeks and is receptive for 3–6 days. After
a gestation period of 104–106 days, 1–6 cubs are born in a shelter situated in
tall grass, thick bush or in caves. New-born cubs weigh 780 to 1,600 g (1.72 to
3.53 lb) and they have a thick woolly fur that is shed after 3.5–5 months.
Their eyes and ears are closed. Their milk teeth start to erupt at about 2–3
weeks after birth and are slowly replaced by permanent dentition from 8.5–9.5
weeks of age onwards. They suckle for 3–6 months, and begin to eat small
amounts of solid food at about 2 months of age. At this time, they follow their
mother on her hunting expeditions and begin to take part in hunting at 5–6
months of age. At the age of 2–3 years, they slowly start to separate from the
family group and become transient – looking out for an area, where they can
establish their own territory. Young males move further away from their
mother's territory than young females. Once the family group has split, the mother
comes into heat again.
Over the
past century, tiger numbers have fallen dramatically, with a decreasing
population trend. None of the Tiger Conservation Landscapes within the Bengal
tiger range is large enough to support an effective population size of 250
individuals. Habitat losses and the extremely large-scale incidences of
poaching are serious threats to the species' survival.
India now
has as many as 2,967 tigers in the wild, with more than half of them in Madhya
Pradesh and Karnataka, according to the latest tiger estimation report released
by our Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi, on 30th July 2019. However, this
growth has not been uniform across all 18 states where tigers are found. My
State of Telangana has just 26 tigers. The count has decreased drastically from 46 to
19 in Chhattisgarh. In Odisha, it has been on a continual decline over the
years. We have 50 tiger reserves in India. Not all are doing well.
I wish and
pray that the tigers are well taken care of in all the tiger reserves in India
and elsewhere, and their population increases. Apart from their growth in tiger
reserves maybe we should encourage Tiger Zoos like Sriracha where tiger
breeding and care of over 200 tigers are taken care of so nicely.
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