UPDATE: I’ve documented my experience and old article here but would no longer visit this place. Please read this post — Where Can I Pet a Baby Lion / Tiger / Cheetah / Big Cat?
On a trip through SouthEast Asia with my buddy, we took a trip to Tiger Kingdom, just outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The price structure there is as follows:
| Size | Cost | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn (2-3 months) | $20 | 10 minutes |
| Smallest (4-8 months) | $20 | 10 minutes |
| Medium (9-12 months) | $15 | 15 minutes |
| Big Cats (13-30 months) | $15 | 15 minutes |
We decided to do 3 of the 4; we skipped the medium cats to save some money. A rather expensive attraction for Thailand. One I was really looking forward to though! There’s concern I’ve read about on the net about the cats being fed things to keep them docile, but I did not see anything like this going on. I suspect the cats would enjoy larger areas to roam about in, although I did not see anything shady going on and the facilities appeared nice.
Shoes and backpacks need to be removed prior to entering the kittens area (sandals provided), in the others bags and any other loose items must be left outside although shoes and cameras can be taken inside. This place was a lot of fun! I’m a cat person, and it was awesome to be up next to such big cats up close. For the most part they actually acted very similar to house cats even. We got some great pictures, some of mine posted below.
Pics from my picasa and my buddy Josh’s flickr gallery.
Cautious Josh giving the hover hand…
Videos as well, of course!
Some water ball thing, outside of Tiger Kingdom
Babies…
Before entering the cage…
Getting chewed on by his buddy…
Wrasslin’
GoPro of the smallest kitties (long)
GoPro of the small tigers, playing in the water!
Tiger talking and rubbing a flubby belly…
Largest cats
Wow these photos are absolutely gorgeous!! Might be expensive for Thailand, but that seems like a pretty amazing price for that kind of experience. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Love your photos! Looks like a fun experience.
We went to Tiger Kingdom when we were there in March. I was (and still am) struggling with that decision. But my son LOVED it. We only did the small tigers, which was enough for us. I wanted to go see the big tigers but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. (I’m not judging, BTW. I was there. I paid my money too. 🙂 )
I don’t remember seeing those hamster water balls. I’m sure if we did, my son would have been in there!
i can’t find one of the articles i thought was pretty good that i read around when i went, but it made me feel that a visit to the tiger kingdom in chiang mai was alright. there is a place called tiger temple that seemed to be a lot more questionable that you can read about online. as far as the tiger kingdom though – advised it, would recommend and would do it again…