DON'T PHOTOGRAPH YOURSELF WITH WILD ANIMALS IN THE STREET!

 

 

Wild animals on the streets of Thailand

Endangered wild animals such as monkeys, elephants, and exotic lizards are common sights on Thailand's busy tourist streets of Bangkok, Krabi, Koh Samui and Phuket. Animals are used as a tourist attraction, an object to be photographed and as entertainment in restaurants. Many of these street animals are classified by international standards as endangered and all the wild animals on the streets are the victims of illegal animal trade. For example The White Handed Gibbon which is a common street animal in Thailand, is internationally classified as endangered.  Thailand's law also strictly forbids having a gibbon as a pet.

Animals you see on the streets are usually caught from the wild. Some animals can be raised in captivity as well but in thailand there is no legal place that could sell these wild animals to private people, hence all the animals on the streets are illegal.

Close contact with wild animals can be very dangerous. Treated wrongly these animals can be aggressive and fierce. The bites of wild animals and the wounds you can receive from a scratch can lead to blood poisoning and in some areas, rabies as well as other contagious diseases that they may carry.
Animals have been brought to the streets to entertain tourists. If we don't buy photographs taken with these animals or encourage their baseless entertainment shows then the whole activity will become pointless. It's not reasonable to carry on with this kind of unprofitable job so in the long run refusing to be  photographed with these animals or watch their shows would decrease trafficking in wild animals directly.
When you are  watching these wild animals it's good to remember that it is a living creature as well. Every animal species has needs and behavioral styles of their own. Animals are not toys for humans and they shouldn't be treated like that.

 

What animals can you find on the streets?

 

White-handed gibbon, Gibbon lar


•    Lives about 25 years old, will reach its maturity at the age of 8
•    Disappeared from the wild in Phuket about 30 years ago because of the illegal trade
•    For every captive baby gibbon you see approximately 3 gibbon families have been killed to catch it
•    In captivity gibbons will become aggressive at the age of 5

 

 

 Macaque monkeys, Cercopithecinae

•    There is  5 different species and many sub-species in Thailand
•    4 species have been internationally listed as endangered
•    It's not natural behaviour for monkeys to perform for people
•    Most of the  monkeys held on the streets are babies because it's easier to handle and control them

 

Leaf monkeys, Colobidae

•    There is 4 different species in Thailand
•    3 species of Leaf monkeys are listed as endangered
•    Leaf monkeys are quite small so it's easy to keep  them as a tourist attraction

 

Indian elephant, Elephas maximus


•    One of the three Elephant species
•    In Thailand they have been used in  wartime as pack animals and for logging operations
•    Logging has been forbidden in Thailand since 1989, since then the elephants have been unemployable.
•    Elephants suffer  being on the streets  causing alot of stress and pain
•    Keeping elephants on the streets is strictly forbidden in Thailand Law

 

Iguana, Iguana iguana


•    Comes from South Americas rainforests
•    Hasn’t been listed as an  endangered species
•    Being on the streets cause unnecessary stress and suffering for the animals

 

Eagles and hawks


•    In Thailand there are many different kind of eagles and hawks
•    Some of them are migratory birds
•    There are endangered  and rare species
•    They cut the feathers from the captivite birds, so they can’t  fly anymore
•    Birds are usually tied at the leg, so they can’t move

 


 

 

Our projects

Tagging sea turtles in Phuket

The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, is listed as an endangered species throughout the world.  Raising turtles in captivity until a certain size and then releasing them to the sea is a common conservational practice in Thailand. The idea is that bigger turtles will escape hungry predators that prey on small turtle individuals. However, no scientific evidence of how this captive breeding affects turtles exist up to date. Our pilot study will follow the lives of a few green turtles upon release to see how they survive, how they migrate and if they behave in the same way as "natural" turtles. 

The survey is conducted with the help of small, matchbox sized satellite tags that are attached to the turtles upper shells.  The tags are activated each time a turtle comes up to the surface to breath and sends out signals which are picked up by satellites above. That enables us to get the exact coordinates for each tagges turtle individual. At the moment, we have three tagged turtles roaming the seas; Urho, Hilja and Hertta.

The idea behind our project is to find out weather captive breeding is a good conservational tool for sea turtles. If it turns out that the turtles don't behave in a natural way, maybe the conservatoinal efforts should focus on adult, wild turtles instead. 

Only one out of a hundred newly hatched baby turtles make it to adulthood because of natural causes. The majority is eaten by hungry birds, crabs and fish. The turtles grow very slowly and reach sexual majority at an age of twenty years. In addition to these naturally occurring challenges, the human being puts a great pressure on the endangered turtles: fish nets, the vanishing of suitable under water habitats, the decrease of beaches suitable for egg laying, floating garbage such as plastic bags and the climate change are only a few great challenges. We need to take action if we want to see the sea turtles swim in our seas in the future.

Sustainable tourism in Phuket

We aim to increase the ecological awareness of tourists by spreading information about endangered sea turtles and other marine species and how it is possible to travel and dive in an ecologically sustainable way. Our turtle center is visited each week by hundreds of European tourists that come to hear us talk about turtles and the marine environment in Thailand. Did you know that "Nemo fish" can actually talk? Did you know that know that you can find fish climbing mangrove trees? Did you know it takes 500 years for a styrofoam box to decompose in the sea? You will find out this and more interesting facts about marine life if you pay us a visit! 

Sustainable fishing in Thailand  

Shrimp trawling, long line fishery and other fishing methods are a large problem for sea turtles and other marine animals in the South East Asia region. TED’s (Turtle Exclusion Devises) have been developed to reduce sea turtles getting caught in these nets. TED's are small grids that are placed in front of the trawl sac to prevent big animals from getting caught in it. The goal of our project is to study the use of TED’s in Thailand and encourage fishermen to use environmentally friendly fishing gears.

Spotted dolphin caught in fish net.

We wish to bring together fishermen who are ready to use, or are already using TED nets and hotels that are willing to use sea food that is caught using the technology that helps to reduce by-catch. The outcome will be marine life will have better future in Thai waters,
fishermen will have customers for their catch and compensation for using TED nets. Also,  tourists will keep cherishing and visiting the Andaman Sea region.