Thailand’s authorities launch donation campaign to feed rescued animals

Thailand’s wildlife department has launched a campaign called “Foster Parents” for people to donate money to feed rescued wild animals. This news comes as the department is having a tough time feeding thousands of wild animals on a tight budget. While the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation used to receive 80 million baht each year to care for animals, this year, the funding wildly plummeted to 30 million baht due to a government cut.

Now, the department is supposed to use that 30 million baht to feed about 26,000 rescued animals. A director-general of the department, Ratchada Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya, said that large animals such as tigers and bears eat about 5 kilograms of meat every day, in addition to vitamins. He added that the department also conducts health checkups on the animals every year.

The department chief says people can donate to the project’s Krungthai Bank account number 980-216-5379.

Many of the wild animals the department is trying to care for were rescued from wildlife traffickers. Ratchada said the animals include wildcats such as lions and tigers, as well as bears, otters, and bird species among several other animals.

Last year, several investigations showed that tourist guides and information centres in Southeast Asia had been fuelling the illegal wildlife trade by facilitating consumption by tourists. Illegal wildlife traders will often pay guides and tourist offices a commission to send people their way, said Hong Hoang, founder and executive director of CHANGE, an environmental NGO based in Vietnam.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post