Chiang Mai - Tiger Kingdom - Rules on How to Hug a Tiger

When you hug the tigers at Tiger Kingdom, there are rules you must follow. Because, while these tigers are accustomed to being handled by humans on a daily basis, they are ultimately still wild animals. Proceed with caution.

Rule #1:

Move calmly, slowly.

If you act like tiger prey,
you become its prey.

Rule #2:

Be aware of its
teeth and paws, especially
the range of its claws.

While the dangers of the teeth are rather obvious, a casual paw swipe from a tiger, even a baby tiger, could seriously hurt a human.

See my hand on the floor? See the baby tiger's paws? My hand is smaller than the paw of the baby tiger. So while they are adorable, baby tigers do have intimidate weapons in their paws.

Rule #3:

Do NOT directly
approach a tiger. Always
approach from behind.

Again:

Never approach tigers, even the baby ones, directly head on.

Whoops.

To be fair, this one approached me. Again and again and again. And each time, its handler would grab the baby tiger so that it would be a safer position.

At Tiger Kingdom, it is unlikely that a tiger might attack you out of aggression or hunger. Rather, if you approach a tiger in a head-on manner, it might think that you want to play.

And what do tigers do when they play?

They bite and claw when they play. All in fun, of course. Except if the playmate is a human whose skin is much more fragile than a tiger's pelt.

So those are the big rules to follow while interacting with tigers. While I was in the tigers' space, there was at least one staff member, often two or three, supervising my experience. It was the staff that directed me to the more risky actions with tigers.

While I am glad I received guidance on what interactions would be acceptable to the tigers, honestly, I would have been perfectly happy in one pose during my stay.


More pics of me hugging adult tigers!

More pics of me hugging baby tigers!