TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A tourist from India was attacked by a tiger while taking a selfie at a tourist spot near Phuket, Thailand. The video that was shared on May 29 by Sidharth Shukla on X has been viewed more than 3.7 million times.
In the video, the male tourist is seen approaching a chained tiger with a trainer standing nearby. He kneels next to the animal to take a selfie, while the trainer uses a stick to make the tiger sit.
"Apparently an Indian man attacked by a tiger in Thailand. This is one of those places where they keep tigers like pets and people can take selfies, feed them, etc, etc," the post stated.
Suddenly, the tiger becomes aggressive and pounces on the man. Fortunately, the victim only suffered minor injuries.
Ethics of Wildlife Tourism
The video has sparked a new debate about the ethics of wildlife tourism. Many viewers are concerned and raise serious questions about the safety and ethics of allowing close interaction with wild animals. Social media users also criticize the use of wild animals for tourism.
"Attractions that allow photography and feeding of animals are often dangerous for both humans and the animals," said a social media user quoted by VnExpress.
The person added that they hope the incident will raise awareness and promote more responsible and ethical wildlife tourism practices.
The incident reportedly took place at Tiger Kingdom, a facility where visitors are allowed to enter the enclosures and interact closely with tigers.
The World Animal Protection organization said that coming into direct contact with wild animals, especially predators like tigers, is never without risk. Wild animals have instincts, even if they are born in captivity, and can react unexpectedly to stress, noise, or sudden movements.
"Allowing tourists to enter enclosures for photos creates unsafe conditions that can result in serious injury or death," the organization stated in an article on worldanimalprotection.org.
Travelers have the ability to stop animal suffering by making the right choices and traveling responsibly.
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