The Fiction – Myths about Wildlife in Tourism

Wildlife Myth 1 – The owners are very poor people that would not be able to make a living without the animals...

This is nonsense. They are actually people who are usually well off and have the right connections to continue this illegal business. Their profits on Phuket and Samui amount to over 200 dollars a night, a small fortune in Thailand.

Wildlife Myth 2 – The animals love the attention from people and have a special bond with the owner…

Not true, most animals have been forcefully taken away from their families in the wild and are very scared and dependant due to basic fear and stress. Gibbons are known to be given sleeping pills to keep them quiet during the day and a beating every now and then by the owner keeps the animal in line with his “expectations”.

Wildlife Myth 3 – The animal was bred in captivity and/or is legally obtained…

No. Although it is not impossible to breed wildlife in captivity there are no legal breeding facilities in Thailand that hand over, sell or lend out wildlife to third parties. Besides all this, a poached animal from the wild would always be cheaper than buying one from any legal breeding facility if one were available.

Wildlife Myth 4 – The animals are treated with care and best intentions…

Out of sight of the tourists this is a different story. The animals are kept on short chains or confined to tiny, barren cages and receive little or no veterinary care. They are malnourished and imprisoned as slaves for their short span of useful life, then killed or abandoned to make way for the next money making animal. In the case of tourist tigers, many are illegally traded to be killed and used for ‘medicine’.