Tiger Kingdom

Remember Zoobooks? It was a magazine that came out in the early 90’s about animals.

My parents bought a subscription and so every month a new magazine would arrive packed with pictures and information. There were three issues that I looked at so many times the pages fell out. Lions, Tigers, and Big Cats. I have been obsessed with lions and tigers since childhood. And on January 18th, 2009, I got to fulfill a boyhood dream of touching a live tiger.
The location: Tiger Kingdom, Chiang Mai Thailand. Yes Thailand, they would never allow something like this in the U.S. The premise: there are dozens of tigers in enclosures, and because they are nocturnal creatures, visitors can pay to touch, lay on, and take pictures with these beautiful cats during the day while they are resting. I know, this is just a “When Animals Attack” episode waiting to happen, but I had to gamble on the chance I wouldn’t make the highlight reel. For fifteen dollars our group got to spend about an hour in the cages with the tigers. We spent twenty minutes with the 3-6 month olds, and forty minutes with the adult tigers.
If I had to rate the greatest days of my life so far, I think it would be: Tiger kingdom, my wedding, and then the birth of my son. If you don’t know that I’m kidding, you should stop reading now and navigate to a new site.





But it was interesting that I was smiling bigger in my “tiger” pictures then in my “newly reunited with my wife and son” pictures.



I know that you are all insanely jealous of me and wish that you had this life experience, but not everyone can be that cool...