Thailand: Activists blast 'animal safari' show

Bangkok Post, 8 Oct 13;

Animal rights activists have expressed concerns about the welfare of wildlife featured at a show at Seacon Square.

The shopping mall's exotic animal show is entitled "Seacon Pet Planet: The Safari" and runs until Sunday.

The show features 35 species of animals, including vulturine guineafowl, snakes and a lion cub which visitors can feed with milk.

Roger Lohanan, secretary-general of the Thai Animal Guardians Association, described the show as "mild wildlife exploitation".

The animals are forced to live in a confined space in an unfamiliar environment, he said.

He questioned whether the exhibition was run under the close supervision of animal welfare specialists who could offer advice on caring properly for the animals.

"I have repeatedly said that a shopping mall is not a suitable place for wildlife exhibitions," he said. "Those poor animals are put under pressure and become unhappy in their new environment. They are stressed by the process of transportation, and by loud noises and crowds of onlookers."

He said wildlife exhibitions have become big business for wildlife owners, who are well-paid for loaning the rare and exotic animals.

Surapol Duangkhae, of Wildlife Fund Thailand, expressed similar concerns.

He said putting wildlife on show in a shopping centre will never send the right message.

"It just shows how pretty they appear. Behind the scenes, wildlife exhibitions could turn into secret markets for selling exotic wild animals. So in a way, these shows could support the illegal trade of wildlife," Mr Surapol said.

However, Charun Poopat, Seacon Square's vice-president for marketing, insisted the mall's intentions are good.

He said the shopping centre wants children to learn more about wildlife and management believes the exhibition will allow children to get closer to animals and learn more about their behaviour.

He also said the animals are closely supervised by zoo keepers who take care of food and sanitation for them, especially the baby tigers and lions which come from a Safari Park in Kanchanaburi province.

Mr Charun said that since the lion and tiger cubs are from a zoo, they are familiar with people and cages.

"I understand the concerns, but we do our best to take care of the animals. I have created the show for education purposes only," he said.

Many comments were posted on the mall's Facebook page asking it to stop torturing animals by running the show.