travelling-blogger

comments

Endangered Indochinese tigers fight and frolic in the water and between rocks, doing what comes naturally, in these impressive images from photographer and filmmaker Peter Adams taken at Thailand's controversial Tiger Temple.

The attraction has come under fire from animal welfare groups for the way their star attractions are treated, but Adams was nothing but impressed when he visited the park linked to the Theravada Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi in western Thailand.

And while tiger selfies are usually the order of the day, the 55-year-old from Gloucestershire wanted to capture the young tigers up to mischief rather than laying about for tourists. 

Endangered Indochinese tigers show their power and grace in the water at Thailand's Tiger Temple

Peter Adams took this series of action images while at Tiger Temple as a tourist Tigers play - or fight - in the water at the sanctuary

The park is linked to the Theravada Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi in western Thailand.

Adams, 55, of Gloucestershire, wanted to capture the young tigers up to mischief rather than laying about for tourists

'I spent a day visiting the temple as a normal tourist but was able to get incredibly close to the tigers,' Adams says. 'They were young and extremely playful, instigating some of the games with some of the monks who have brought them up, so they're used to human contact.'

Adams says he was able to get within touching distance of the tigers while they played together in their enclosures and watched them get showered and fed.

'It seemed incredible to me to get so close to these magnificent creatures, even to stroke them,' he says. 'It did feel slightly surreal taking these pictures being so close to something essentially wild and dangerous and to see their tremendous power as they run towards you.

'My instinct told me to back away, but my urge to get strong photographs was telling me to get closer.'

'There has been some controversy over the temple as there is with a lot of wildlife centres, however during my visit the tigers seemed very well treated and looked after.

'It was a magical experience.' 

One tiger surveys the area from the height of a rock, and prepares to pounce on its pals 

A tiger shows how tall it can be on two legs while two others clash with their huge paws simultaneously catching each other on the face

Nowhere to go! This clash isn't going to end well for one tiger as the big cat with the higher ground strikes the other with its paw

Tiger Temple, which was founded in 1994, houses more than 100 tigers and visitors can bottle feed the cubs. 

In a review by Care For the Wild International based on a combination of animal welfare measures along with media coverage and compiled reviews, Tiger Temple received an 'unacceptable' rating of six out of a possible 50. 

A Care for the Wild investigation in 2008 says it 'exposed cruelty and other serious issues' but they say in recent years opinions on the attraction are divided.

The Zoo Review score was boosted by positive appraisals from TripAdvisor and Google. 

'It is obvious that many people love the Tiger Temple as it gives them the chance to get close to the tigers. Many claim not to see evidence of mistreatment or cruelty,' says the review. 'However, focussing purely on animal welfare criteria, the Tiger Temple seems to deserve an Unacceptable rating, as the conditions of the tigers is of extreme concern.'