Tiger Temple Bears Silently Removed With Cranes

Last week, it was announced that the Tiger Temple refused to let authorities examine the bears on the Temple’s property. The six moon bears are a protected species, and the Tiger Temple did not provide proper documentation for the bears. Monks and followers blocked the temple’s gates to stop authorities from removing the bears.

Local authorities devised a plan to remove the bears this weekend. The animals were sedated and hoisted into trucks using a crane. None of the protestors were alerted to the bear’s removal as protestors were distracted by officials. Removal was carefully done by forest rangers and wildlife protection officials.

All of the six moon bears have now been relocated to a breeding facility in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung.

The retrieval of the bears took a team of 400 members, including police, soldiers and wildlife authorities to be carried out safely.

Authorities were also alerted to three of the temple’s tigers going missing. An investigation will commence against the temple, but authorities are asking the temple for their cooperation at this time. A full inspection of the tigers, which have been microchipped, is being suggested by authorities to verify that all tigers are still residing in the temple.

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