During our travels, we have often found ourselves confused and at a loss as to how to best support organizations we feel uphold our views and not patronize those that don't. Often times companies tout buzz words like "eco-tourism" and "conservation," knowing that these are things that are important to travelers (us included), but do not understand or are not fully committed to those causes. Which of course makes deciding what we feel are morally "right" decisions all that much harder.

We were presented with such a decision yesterday when we heard about a "tiger sanctuary" called Tiger Kingdom here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where visitors have the opportunity to enter cages with tigers of varying sizes. Now being the animal lovers and biology geeks we are, we've visited our fair share of zoo's and aquariums on the trip, some of which we felt had animal welfare and conservation in mind and others which seemed to care less about their animals and more about the bottom line. After reading reviews of Tiger Kingdom online, doing a fair amount of research and talking with a couple of friends that had done the experience, we decided to give it a go.

We awoke early this morning to beat the crowds as well as observe the tigers during one of their most active period (they are nocturnal and often nap during the heat of the day). We weren't sure whether it was better to be surrounded by active tigers or visit them when they were passed out (Adam's actual words were "I want to be surrounded by tigers in comas"). In the end we decided a tiger bite might be a cool scar to bring home and a blog about a mild tiger attack may be a bit more exciting :)

Upon arriving to the park we were presented with different package tours. We opted for a small package that involved entering the cages of the smallest and biggest cats. I must admit my adrenaline was pumping a bit at this point. We've found "tours" in other countries to be a bit liability free and I was unsure of what to expect. Also, I couldn't help but think of the scary animal encounter shows we've seen on the Discovery Channel (particularly those involving Sigfreid & Roy). So, before we began, I ran to use the restroom so that as I told Adam "my nerves wouldn't make me wee all over myself when entering the cage." That taken care of, I was ready for the adventure.

We began with the littlest tigers (1-3 months). We were instructed to wash our hands (which I thought was good in terms of animal health). These baby cats were absolutely adorable. We were in an enclosure with a total of four cats. The smallest was a month old and literally tripping over it's paws trying to master the art of walking. The older ones had the walking thing down and were busy drinking milk and sleeping. It was a truly awesome experience and we felt no danger whatsoever.

Then came the big cats (300-400 lbs mind you). Entering their enclosures was a bit more intimidating. That said they were all resting and seemed to care very little about us. They didn't even react when we pet them. We concluded that they were probably used to this kind of interaction and seeing that they were eyeing us like big steaks, our nerves calmed a bit. Their enclosures all had a concrete swimming/bathing areas, things for them to interact/play with, and what seemed to us to be plenty of room. The tigers themselves were not pacing (as you often see in a zoo like setting) and appeared to be in good health (their coats and teeth were shiny, eyes clear, no obvious wounds, etc).

Now, the question arises as to whether I believe these type of places should exist or not. Well, ideally we would have preferred to have seen tigers in a natural setting. But, as many of you are aware those places are dwindling in number every day and wild tigers are few and far between (primarily due to habitat loss and poaching). We ventured into tiger territory in Nepal in hopes of catching a glimpse of one of these majestic cats, but were sunuccessful. In general, we support zoo's (and obviously aquariums) because they often educate people about the animals they exhibit and allow people to connect to creatures in a way that may not be possible otherwise. If there is one thing that we have taken away from our experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it is that people are much more likely to protect something that they love, and zoos and aquariums provide opportunities for this to happen.

You may now be asking whether we believe it is right to allow people to interact with tigers in a zoo setting? Perhaps... perhaps not. Maybe people shouldn't be allowed to go into enclosures with tigers because how ever much you train animals like these (large and potentially dangerous), they still have instincts that could be triggered that could potentially put you on the lunch menu as a result. With that said, we felt safe and there seemed to be plenty of trainers around to ensure that the animals weren't displaying aggressive behaviors. We were also only allowed to approach the big tigers from behind and not allowed near their heads. In addition, there is also something to be said about how we perceive and revere certain animals over others. If humans loved cockroaches instead of tigers, we might see them on our boxes of frosted flakes (some of us unfortunately do) instead of Tony the Tiger.

In the end this experience helped me develop a deep connection with these animals that I had not previously had. And now that I've done it, I can tell you I am 100% more likely to support tiger conservation than before. The animals seemed very well taken care of and they were incredible ambassadors for their species. It was an experience that we will not soon forget.