Lions and Tigers and Leopards, Oh My!

Too adorable to resist kissing (Steve, too!)

I'm going to warn you now - this post is primarily going to be lots of photos of adorable cats (and some zebras, giraffes and elephants thrown in, too). In one day I added 1000 photos to my phone, plus about 500 on Steve's camera.  Don't worry, there won't be quite so many here.

Technically, yes, the bridge over the River Kwai

We have our guide Kiwi again, and we're picked up at 5:30am for the three hour drive to the animal park.  Our rest break for the morning is at the bridge on the River Kwai.  But it's not the actual bridge from the movie - remember, that was blown up at the end (for real).  It's not the WWII bridge the movie was semi-based on, because that was blown up by the Allies in 1944.  After the (mostly fictional) movie came out, Thailand built this bridge and renamed this section of the river Kwai, in order to give tourists a spot to visit when they came looking for the "Bridge on the River Kwai."  

Milk!  It does a body good.

We arrive at the animal park a little before it opens.  Our tour company has arranged for us to have time "behind the scenes" with lots of hands on activity with the animals, particularly the cats.  We start off meeting with some of the volunteers - a group of British students in their twenties, who assist at the zoo for a couple of months.  They give us the impression that the animals are well taken care of, so we don't have to be concerned about the animals' welfare.  One of the assistants has two of her fingers bandaged, but insists it's from cutting the meat for the cats, not from their teeth.  Sure....

Nice kitty

We start off taking Kariba, an adolescent lion (7 months old), for a walk. It's actually pretty similar to walking Tie-Dye, except we have the trainer and two assistants accompanying us.  I'm holding the "leash," though one of the assistants has a second one and is actually in control of the animal.  I'm still willing to bet the lion could turn and attack before he could pull him back, but luckily Kariba never puts him to the test.  You can tell I'm a little nervous about it - we're told to stay behind him the entire time.  They tell us we can pet him, but if you notice I'm on my toes (so I can move fast if necessary) and I'm as far back as my arm will reach.

"Yum...looks tasty!"

Next I walk Louie, an 8-month old tiger.  He's pretty feisty, and a couple of times decides to stalk our guide, Kiwi, who's holding my camera.  Luckily, he doesn't see Steve imitating him!  With the trainer and volunteer assistants, they keep Louie in line.  Since he doesn't eat anyone, he gets a bottle of milk, and you can see me feeding him above.  Just like with household cats, they love milk!  (And putting their paw on your arm.  I was told to keep my arm high and support his paw.  It weighs more than you might think.  They've also had their front claws removed.  One of the volunteers we talked with said he was against the procedure, but he recognizes why it has to be done since this is a touching zoo.  We always declawed our cats' front paws at our house, so I understand the rationale, too.)



Then it's play time!  We're allowed into one of the pens for a keep away game with Shakina, an 7-8 month old adolescent leopard, and Chanel, an 8-9 month old lioness.

"I am ferocious.  I am!  I really am!"

Fortunately, we're not the ones trying to "keep away" from the cats - I think they'd quickly win.  We're told to keep our back to the fence and not to flick the "broom" towards a person, since they jump at them (again, very similar to house cats).  There are several people inside the facility with us, but there are no leashes here!

On the prowl

Caught it!

"Chicken, my favorite!"

After playing, it's time to eat.  We're brought to another part of the zoo where the adult tigers are kept.  We're given cut up pieces of chicken that we place on the end of a stick, then carefully place through the fence so the tiger can bite it off (we hold the stick at an angle, so the tiger doesn't hurt his mouth on the end).  When you're right beside them, you can see how huge they really are.  The guide does warn us not to play keep away with the meat, and I understand why - I'm sure they can take down this fence without a problem.  

Um, this tiger is looking like people may be his favorite snack.

Double high five!  Hey, Steve, I wouldn't stare in his eyes like that...

More carrots!!  More!  More!

We can't forget the giraffes and zebras!  We're brought to their area and are given leafy branches to hand out.  They are pretty polite about it (maybe it's just the fact that it takes them a minute to strip all the twigs and leaves off the main branch) until the carrots are brought out.  Who knew?!  They LOVE carrots.  Then it's a free for all.  We try to make sure everything is evenly distributed but when Steve is a little slow handing them out they give him some kisses to speed him up.

One for you, and one for you...

Now we get to play with the babies!  First there's a 3-month old tiger cub.  We snuggle with him and give him milk and a rawhide bone.

Almost as cute as Tie-Dye!

He can even do tricks!  He rides Steve's back while he does a few pushups.

Just my typical workout...

Then there's the real babies - the 2-month old lion and tiger cubs.  Seriously - how cute are they?

I am irresistible. 

They are together in their pen, but for the ten minutes we're with them we don't really see them play with each other.  We're able to cuddle and pet them. 

The little tiger loves Steve!  The cub spends most of his time interacting with him.

"I can almost roar!"  (not yet, though)

"I am a vicious attack tiger and I will pull out your hair!" (not really)

Look at the size of those paws, even this young!

I hang out with the lion.









After we give them their bottles, they start to get sleepy.  The trainers tell us it's okay to use them as pillows.  It's a cute idea, but I actually keep the weight of my head off of him - I don't want to hurt him!

Nap time!

Our last experience is feeding the leopards.  We're told to go in and immediately sit down.  The door is only a few feet away and we have a trainer in the cage with us, but there are no leashes here!  The cats seem interested in the milk and rawhide bones, and they keep us well supplied so the leopards don't decide to see what our ears might taste like. 

This is what it looks like when I feed Tie-Dye.

They're happy to keep us cool as we ride.

Our day of animal adventures isn't finished yet!  Nearby is the Elephant Village.  After changing into swimsuits (and as Steve found out, you also want to put on long pants - even if your skin is not sensitive the elephant hide is rough) we take a short ride on them to the river.  We're able to bathe my elephant, and Steve's helps out.

Time for a rinse!

After a water war (they win) we take some fun photos with the elephants. 

Elephant kisses feel very weird!

Nice swing!

Super strength - Steve can hold up the elephant.
Those tiger pushups must have made him strong.

When we finish playing with the elephants in the water we feed them bananas and turnips.  They eat a cluster of bananas, whole - peels and all.  In case you're curious, the inside of an elephant's mouth feels slimy and gross. 

More, please!

Almost ready for the circus!

What a special day!  Our faces hurt from smiling so much!