Tiger Kindom

Tiger kingdom 

This photo was taken in Tiger Kingdom, Phuket, Thailand. The Tiger kingdom is a place where many tigers are caged and open for visitors. With Special permission, visitors are allowed to touch tigers in the cage under the supervision of  their care taker. Even though it is under supervision, a  tiger is a tiger and no one can predict the behavior of  any wild animal. 

My wife and son are ardent animal lovers and they wanted to take this opportunity to touch the animal by paying additional fee.The moment I looked into the staring eyes of a fully grown  tiger,  memory of horrific incident happened in Bangalore National Park ( It was known as "Bannerghatta National Park") came to my mind.   

Those days Bannerghatta was considered quite far from city though  It was only 22kms away from Vidhan Soudha.  We with our first son ( aged 3 years ) visited  the park just two days before the incident.

The Park had a van ( windows  secured with iron grills) to take visitors around and everybody try  to get the  window seat  for a better view. The van with tourists goes around the  park where lions are allowed roam free.  For most of the lions the tourist van is a routine scene and do not even pay any attention. The van has a peeping window at the top and the van supervisor allow  one person when he feels it is safe to allow. 

A similar  van was used by the park keepers to distribute meat to these wild animals.So every time when the van arrives they expect the food. 

The incident took place  when the  grandfather of the   child raised her through the peeping  window for a better view. In split of a second, a lion from behind  jumped on to the van and  grabbed the child and went away. The grand father wanted to run behind the lion mulling the child away but prevented by others in the van.

Since this incident happened just 2 days after our visit, the memory of that   could not  be erased  even after so many years. With this at the back of mind, I was sacred to go  inside and decided to wait outside. They went inside and taken some photos. Visitors are not allowed to go in front of the tiger or touch the head. 

I was relieved only when they returned safe. Tiger kingdom - an unforgettable visit.