Temple hands over dumped wildlife

Abbot says temples are no good place to keep wild animals

We received a call from a temple in Southern Thailand last week with an urgent call for help. At this temple a few wild animals were kept given up by people in the neighborhood, but the enclosures were not strong enough to keep the animals safe inside. Two of the bears kept on escaping from the cage, destroying property of people nearby. To make sure the animals would not escape again and even pose a threat to children in the neighborhood the abbot of this temple has asked WFFT to move the animals to a suitable environment at WFFT wildlife rescue center.

It is very common in Thailand for people to donate wildlife to temples, and in most cases temple will not refuse to help out. Temples are however not the best places to keep wild animals and in many cases proper (medical) care and decent nutrition is not available. We at WFFT are therefore very happy that the abbot of this temple contacted WFFT to help out and further care for the animals. WFFT has registered the animals with the authorities and hopes that the animals can stay with us for a while longer to strengthen up.

We are very grateful that “Free the Bears” in Australia have offered to “adopt” the bears and assist us with financial help to care for the bears while at WFFT. All three rescued bears will move straight to large open enclosures at the WFFT wildlife Rescue Center.