Baby Wildlife is So Cute So I Keep One As A Pet

What do you think when you read the title? If you think the title doesn’t make sense, then this article is probably not for you. But if you think the title suits you, then this article is definitely for you and you should read it till the end.

If you travel to Asia, chance is you’ll see cute baby animals, dressed in cute clothing and mostly available as photo props. If you show big interest and say “Cuteness overload! I wanna buy one! I wanna keep one at home!”, sometimes they can be sold as a pet to you instantly. Nobody denies that baby animals are so cute and adorable. They are  tiny, fluffy and super cute. Once you cuddle them, you fall in love with them and decide to keep one as a pet. If you love animals of course you want to do your best for them. There’s no way you want to hurt those cute baby animals, correct? Now the question is, what’s the best thing you can do for the babies? So here are a few options of what you can do to show your love and care for captured baby animals:

1. Pose for pictures with them. Have you ever wondered how the baby animals ended up as a photo prop? Most babies are obtained from the wild, and the easiest way to catch a baby animal is to kill its mother. I won’t give lengthy explanation about this topic here but you can read more about animals and photo props here. Think twice before you pose pictures with baby animals. Is the suffering in their lives worth for your social media picture?

Beyonce Knowles, not a good role model in this case.

2. Keep them as pet. So you fall in love with them and decided to keep one as a pet. Suddenly they are sick, maybe because their diet is not as good and not as natural as what they eat in the wild. Because you love them, of course you take them to the vet. No matter how expensive the bills will be, you are willing to save your beloved baby. Now what happens next at the vet? Your vet looks confused because they haven’t seen this animal before. They are not sure what to do with your baby. Oh, wait… They know someone who can help and ask you to wait for a minute. As a wildlife vet I have numerous experience of being called by other vet colleagues saying they have this unusual patient that looks like a wild cat, or like a kind of monkey, or a kind of bird, or even a kind of alien. Here’s the real situation: Some vets can’t even identify the animal species, leave alone diagnosing what common diseases the animals could possibly have. This inability restricts them from giving the right treatment, in addition to they don’t know what drugs can or cannot be used in those exotic animals. Worse, some even cannot handle the patient for a thorough exam because the animals are aggressive, which is normal because they are wildlife and are not meant to be tamed. I don’t blame the vets for not being able to check the patient because most vet schools don’t teach about wildlife subjects in details. I blame the owner for keeping illegal wildlife.

3. Cuddle them every day. They are so cute! You want to spend every possible second with them. You carry them everywhere, you show your best friends and they envy you, you eat with them, you sleep with them. It’s easy to control baby animals, but days after days, weeks after weeks, it does not take long to show their true wild behavior. What used to be cuddly baby turns to be a feisty kinkajou, a bity loris and a scratchy leopard cat. You can’t cuddle them anymore. So what happens next? Remove their claws and their teeth even though it means you’re hurting them? Wait a minute, you don’t want to hurt them, do you? But at the same time you can’t cuddle and play with aggressive animals too. Well, then the message is clear. Don’t buy exotic pets from the very beginning.

Paris Hilton bitten by her kinkajou. She had to receive tetanus jab because of the bite.

Further read: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/ridiculous-reasons-people-give-for-keeping-exotic-animals-as-pets

Thailand’s Tiger Temple Twist

Most people know the infamous Thailand tiger temple in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Thousands of tourists have visited this place where they can walk, play and pose for pictures with adult tigers and feed tiger cubs in their laps. A lot of visitors came to Thailand merely for this purpose.

Source: matadornetwork.com

The temple claims they were doing conservation by preserving the tiger species and save them from extinction. However, investigation shows only breeding program happens there without releasing or reintroduction program. This allegation is supported by a statement from Julianne Chisholm, foreign manager of the temple as she says “All of the tigers that were born here will stay here.” In conservation, it is the population of the tigers in the wild that needs to be increased, not in captivity. Most, if not all, of the tiger offspring born in temple are hybrid of Indochinese, Bengal, and Malayan tiger as quoted from their about page. Producing and raising hybrid offspring cannot be considered as a conservation act.

Tiger Temple History

The controversial temple claims to be the oldest surviving Buddhist school, a Theravada Buddhist forest temple in western Thailand and a sanctuary for numerous animals, including several tame tigers. The Tiger Temple was founded in 1994 as a forest monastery and sanctuary for numerous wild animals. In 1999 the temple received the first tiger cub; it had been found by villagers and died soon after. Several tiger cubs were later given to the temple, typically when the mothers had been killed by poachers. As of 2007, over 21 cubs had been born at the temple. As of late March 2011, the total number of tigers living at the temple has risen to almost 90.

Recent updates

According to WFFT all tigers from the temple had been confiscated in 2003. A lot of activists have raised their concerns about this place and finally in the first week of February 2015 Thai government officials raided the temple and found illegal hornbills, bears, and jackals kept within the temple complex which then mysteriously disappeared within the next day. On April 1st, 2015 the Thai government officials went to inspect the temple again regarding a report of three missing tigers. However they could not conduct the investigation because temple staffs refused to open the temple and unlock tiger cages.

The abbot of the temple, was supposed to meet DNP (Department of National Parks) Thailand on April 17th, 2015 but he fled to Frankfurt instead.

Credit @EdwinWiek on twitter.com

Head of DNP stated they would seize all 146 tigers from the temple by the end of April. The tigers will then go to different sanctuaries in in Ratchaburi, Khao Prathap Chang and Khao Son.

If you ask my feeling regarding the current situation, I have to say I’m happy that the Thai government finally do something for the tigers and other animals there, but I’m worried for the future lives of these tigers at the new sanctuaries. From veterinary point of view, moving a single tiger for a long trip journey is not going to be an easy job, leave alone moving nearly 150 tigers at once. From restraining, sedating, moving, monitoring, and watching the adaptation in new environment all takes real effort, not to mention long-term monitoring to ensure all standard and animal welfare is met at the new places. Nevertheless, I’m optimist things will get better and the animals will get better lives soon.

The Struggle to Save a Little Baby Monkey

The full story of Hug’s rescue as told by Claudia Lifton, a kind lady who rescued him:

“In order to renew my Thai visa, I had to go to Laos before heading back to the GVI Elephant Reintroduction Project. I have always wanted to explore more of South East Asia, so I took advantage of this rare opportunity and asked for one more week off of project to see this beautiful country. What was supposed to be a simple, uneventful visa run to Laos turned into one of the oddest, and most life changing experiences. The cheapest, and (in my opinion) the best way to travel from Thailand to Laos is by boat. I fell in love with this stunning country within the first five minutes of my three day boat ride to Luang Prabang. I could never grow tired of sitting on that boat, watching the endless scenery of foggy tipped mountains and lush, exotic jungles pass by.

I have never before seen such a large mass of land so unexploited by man. It was encouraging to see small huts built into nature without destroying the scenery around them. I was impressed by the Laos people before I even met them.

Turns out my instincts were right. As soon as we arrived at our first overnight stop in the charming village of Pak Beng we were greeted by the kindest people, one of which was a young man named Bounma agreed to show me around his village. He took me to a beautiful waterfall and invited me to his home for dinner with his lovely family. The next morning the boat left for our final destination – the town of Luang Prabang, famed for its natural and man-made beauty. In just a day and a half I visited several striking Buddhist temples, reveled at the largest waterfall I have ever seen, hiked through an enchanted forest and watched an incredible sunset over the mountains from a small fisherman’s boat. I could have stayed in Luang Prabang forever, and was planning on staying for several more days before heading to Vientiane to apply for my visa, but my time was cut short by a very special little monkey. While on my way back to my hostel from Bounma’s home, I saw a three month old macaque in a small cage outside of a mechanic shop. I stopped to speak with the family that owned him and asked where they had gotten the monkey from.

They said they bought him from an illegal poacher who had killed his mother in the wild to sell the babies as pets and tourist attractions.

After much convincing, they finally agreed to let me take him for the same price they had paid for him. After much research, many phone calls and emails, and a huge stroke of luck, I finally got in touch with SayLin from ACRES Wildlife Sanctuary (now Laos Wildlife Rescue Center). I was excited to have found such a wonderful new home for the macaque, but, when I arrived back in Pak Beng from Luang Prabang, the family informed me that they had changed their minds and refused to let me take the monkey. After several hours of protest (and tears), they finally agreed to let me take the 3 month old baby in exchange for my camera. So, two nine hour boat rides, one eight hour bus ride, several sleepless nights, over two-hundred dollars, a lost (traded) camera, a run in with the Laos police and one CRAZY, unexpected adventure later, Nahuglai (which means forever loved in Laos), is finally at his forever home in Laos Wildlife Rescue Center. After a few days of veterinary care, he will be introduced to his new family of macaques with whom he will live out the rest of his life – rather than in a small cage at a mechanic shop. I am so grateful to have found such an amazing home for little Hug, and to have met the inspiring people that have dedicated their lives to the animals of Laos. SayLin is truly an inspiration, and I was honored to learn from his endless knowledge about the problems facing South East Asia’s animals. He works constantly to ensure that the animals at the sanctuary are well taken care of, and to fight against animal exploitation throughout all of South East Asia. Meeting SayLin and the rest of the dedicated people at Laos Wildlife Rescue Center, and seeing Hug go to such an amazing home was worth all of the trouble to bring him there. My trip to Laos turned into so much more than a simple visa run.

Like most things in my life, I have animals to thank for that.

Round the World Claudia Wednesday, July 10, 2013 – 09:02″

Find out how Hug is doing today with his new life at the rescue center here.

Little Hug and Claudia

When You Have to Choose Between Best Friend and Wildlife

I have a very good friend since we were kids. We were in the same school since kindergarten till high school. Imagine, 14 years together in the same school! We were in the same extracurricular activity too. After high school graduation, we were not so close anymore due to university activities and mainly because I went to different city to study vet medicine. Instant messaging and Facebook were not so popular at that time. Communication was broken and we did not talk to each other for years.

It was only until 2013 that we kept in touch again. To our surprise, we have a lot interests in common: outdoor activities, diving, wildlife, traveling, adventure, road trip, and many more. When she knew I was working at a wildlife rescue center, she decided to come and volunteered for one whole month. Even when I had to attend ASZWM conference in Singapore for a week she stayed and continued volunteering at the rescue center.

When I was young every time my parents took me to a zoo I always cried when it was time to go home because I wanted to take all the animals home with me. Probably same as mine, my friend’s interest in wildlife had started since she was young. The difference is, she always has passion to build a zoo, which is a reachable dream for her because she’s a good architect and landscaper. So when a few months ago someone contacted her to build a new zoo in my hometown, she immediately agreed. She texted me to join the project and build a new modern zoo. I hesitated and asked her a lot of questions. My main concerns are:

1. Where will the animals come from? Caught from the wild or from captive breeding? Legal or illegal? If the animals are captive bred I may still support but if they are captured from the wild and sold through illegal trade I definitely will not help them.
2. How much budget does her client wants to spend for long term management? Building a zoo and getting new animals are neither the hardest thing to do nor the most expensive cost to pay. The real cost of having a zoo is managing the animals and the place. A lot of expense is needed to maintain high quality animal care (good diet, good husbandry, qualified keepers, etc) and of course, the cost of running an animal hospital to maintain the animal’s health is far from low cost. The sad truth is it’s easier and cheaper buying a new illegal animal in my home country than treating a sick animal.

My friend did not know any answer to my questions at that time but after a week she told me that her client had already had over 80 animals in his own house, and most likely are illegal wildlife. So I apologized to her that I would not help the zoo construction. She kept on developing the project and recruited a new vet, who is my high school friend. We talked less and less after that and I feel that I’ve lost a good friend because of wildlife and captivity.