A month after fending off a bid by authorities to seize his many tigers, the abbot of the infamous “Tiger Temple” has been mauled by one of the wild animals.
Phra Wisutthisannen was hospitalized with severe head and arm wounds after a tiger he was walking savaged his face and bit his arm, according a member of the temple’s foundation.
The tiger was corralled into a cage and the abbot sent to hospital for surgery to his arm, according to Khaosod English.
It’s currently tiger mating season, leading staff to speculate the tiger was feeling “moody.”
The abbot has been a staunch defender of the temple, which animal welfare organizations have long accused of engaging in trafficking the very animals it says it protects.
After previous failed attempts to remove the animals from the temple, those accusations received fresh scrutiny after its veterinarian late last year accused the temple of selling several tigers. That prompted government wildlife officials to raid the facility in Kanchanburi province, where they discovered many birds, bears and other protected wildlife being kept illegally.
Some birds were removed, but when officers tried to rescue several moon bears, the abbot led his monks to blockade the gates and prevent the truck from leaving. Officials eventually scooped the bears up and lifted over a wall while the monks were distracted.
During the Songkran holiday in April, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said they would seize all the tigers and relocate them to government shelters.
That threat was quickly retracted and the government agreed to let the temple continue operations, but said it could no longer charge tourists to enter the compound to pet and pal around with the wild cats.
Despite agreeing to those terms, the “temple” still advertises commercial tours such as “Breakfast with Monks and Tigers” for THB10,550 per person.
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