Today we visited Khao Son facility where 30 of the remaining tigers from Tiger Temple reside. And we have exciting news!
Enclosures!
The Department of National Parks (DNP) have started work on ten brand new enclosure areas which means that twenty of the tigers will soon have access to larger, more natural spaces. The tigers will share two to an enclosure and go out on a rotational basis, which will provide an extra level of enrichment. However, the enclosures are rather barren as the budget only covers the construction of the space itself.
Trees, trees and more trees!
In order to make the space more natural, and provide for the tigers' needs, today we donated ten Ivory Coast Almond trees (1800THB/£50/$60 per tree), one for each of the enclosures. This tree grows relatively fast, with horizontal branches that are great for creating shade, perfect for the tigers to hide under. At this time, we have donated just one per enclosure as they do spread quite wide, but we will see how they go as to whether we donate more, or other plants/trees are needed.
We also will be donating grass seed with the plan for that to get sown soon so that the grass can grow in before the tigers use the areas.
Finally, we will be donating cement, bricks and sand in order to create ten 1.5 x 2 metre ponds, one in each enclosure. Each pond will cost 1800THB (roughly £50/$60). If you would like to donate towards the materials for a pond, please click here. In the future we will potentially donate further enrichment items as well.
This is an exciting development and we look forward to being able to show you the final enclosures. As always, thank you all for your continued support for these tigers and we hope that soon all of them will have access to more natural outside areas.