“Finding the deceased Cubs was not a surprise sadly. There were also other endangered animals & body parts found. We had high suspicions Tiger Temple was still breeding as the Temple was using Cubs for the tourists to pay to feed & cuddle although they had been instructed to stop the mass breeding. We are hoping testing will be carried out to determine the parents & time of death." said Donna Reynolds of Conservation and Environmental Education 4 Life (Cee4Life), an Australian conservation group.
Police colonel Bandith Meungsukhum told AFP news agency that wildlife officials would file new criminal charges after the discovery, as it added to the series of animal rights abuse that the temple has been involved in- including giving the tigers a poor diet, inbreeding and speed breeding the cats, involvement in international trafficking with tiger farms and abusing the animals in their care. The dead cubs "must be of some value for the temple", Adisorn Nuchdamrong, from Thailand's Department of National Parks, told Reuters news agency, "But for what is beyond me."
All charges, including those of tiger trafficking, have been denied by the monks. In the freezer, however, animal intestines and other body parts have been discovered. Until 2010, the temple cremated the tigers, but there was a change in policy without any clear reason.
Temple staff attempted to obstruct the raid launched by the DNP by releasing the tigers in the temple's canyon, creating chaos and making it difficult to start the relocation process. However, authorities persevered, and several dozen tigers have been successfully removed from the Tiger Temple. The operation is slated to continue until all tigers are relocated to the state-run facilities.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-3642409
Read:
Behind The Cloak Of Buddha - In Conversation With Cee4Life's Sybelle Foxcroft
