
Bung Chawak Zoo

Overview
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Bung Chawak or Bung Chawak Heritage zoo is located in the Suphanburi province. A government-run facility, it holds many animals and boasts a rather beautiful aquarium. The range of animals is diverse, from domestic animals through fish and birds all the way to a small African collection. All were in enclosures of varying size and adequacy with the herbivores, as usual, better off. The main draw is the area labelled the Big Cat zone. Here, there are vast numbers of cages containing tigers, lions, leopards and, disturbingly, ligers.
Whilst claiming to be about conservation, it is clearly not. There are a vast number of white tigers, some clearly severely inbred, with glassy unseeing eyes and hip problems amongst other issues. A small number of tigers were also in with lions, which had clearly resulted in serious fights. At least four animals had wholly, or partly missing tails. Then, of course, there were two ligers.


Interactions
Tiger-tourist interactions often involve unnatural behaviors and environments that can lead to welfare issues. If you're looking for ethical and welfare-friendly tiger experiences, avoid places offering interactions.
Welfare Indicators
Nutrition
Clean water provided
Limited diet
Physical Environment
Some vegetation
Mix of substrates
Small enclosure size
Ponds not always filled
Overcrowding
Health
No declawing
Severe injuries
Missing body parts
Signs of pain
Poor body condition scores
Behavioural Interactions
No human-animal interactions
No restricted movement
Tiger interactions possible
Limited enrichment
Limited complexity
No privacy
Some abnormal repetitive behaviours
Mental State
Relaxed
Sociable
Frustrated
Tense
Apathetic









What we are doing to help
At this time we are raising awareness for the situation of the captive tigers in Thailand through education of the public and through a number of different petitions.
Head to our Petition zone to see how you can help.