A tourist who was attempting to pose for a photo with a tiger in Thailand was attacked by the animal and suffered minor injuries – footage of the incident has gone viral
This is the harrowing moment a tourist is mauled by a tiger while trying to take a selfie with the animal.
Footage circulating online shows the holidaymaker, believed to be from India, walking alongside the tiger while holding its chain at Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, Thailand. He can then be seen crouching beside the animal to pose for a photo.
But as the trainer uses a stick to instruct the big cat to sit down and the tourist puts his arm around the tiger’s back, the animal suddenly attacks the man, who is heard screaming. Shocked onlookers panic as the incident unfolds and the video ends abruptly as staff intervene to save the man.
READ MORE: Man-eating tiger that had already claimed one victim shot dead by wildlife inspector
According to reports, the tourist suffered minor injuries in the attack. The incident has raised serious concerns about wildlife safety and tourism ethics in places like Tiger Kingdom Phuket, which is described on Tripadvisor as “a once in a lifetime experience where you can meet, play, and have your photo taken with tigers.”
Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, a rescue centre for elephants, monkeys and jungle cats, called for an end on big cat exploitation, saying: “This cruelty must end. For their safety – and ours.” A person wrote on X, “Cats generally do not like being petted on the lower (back) body especially near butts. This man was petting the tiger continuously near above mentioned body area which must have frustrated the tiger. Final straw was when the man cupped it for a photo.”
Another said, “Been there. It’s Tiger Kingdom in Phuket. They sedate the tigers just enough that they don’t have the will to attack. Always feared this could happen.” Someone else added: “Hopefully this forces the authorities to crack down on these places. It’s plain cruelty.” One more said: “What is meant to be wild should stay in the wild.”
Animal welfare organisations advise against visiting places such as tiger entertainment venues, which are common in South-East Asia, particularly Thailand, due to concerns about conservation and animal cruelty. The Environmental Investigation Agency said in a post on its website: “The simplest advice we can give you is if an establishment offers direct tourist interactions with captive animals (selfies, hugging, feeding) and/or promotes tigers engaging in unnatural behaviours (e.g. tricks or performances) then do not visit.
“By not spending your money in tiger entertainment venues you will reduce the profitability of the tiger entertainment industry and help end these cruel practices for good.” It also said cubs are often separated from their mothers within weeks of being born so that they can be hand-raised and bottle-fed by tourist.
It added: “This is extremely stressful for both cubs and mothers, particularly if you consider that, in the wild, they would stay together for a couple of years. Furthermore, tigers are often confined to small, barren enclosures or cages resulting in significant physical and psychological distress, especially considering that tigers in the wild can roam many kilometres in a single night! Frequent handling and visitor contact in loud environments causes the animals further stress and, in order to perform for tourists, tigers are subjected to cruel training regimes.”
In December 2024, a zookeeper who had worked with tigers for years was mauled to death when he stepped inside the big cat enclosure at the Pitești Zoo. And in September 2024, a tiger mauled an animal handler at Dreamworld, in Queensland’s Gold Coast, with the victim suffering “some serious lacerations and puncture wounds”.