Rescued Animals at the Thailand Sanctuary
The Thailand Sanctuary has rescued thousands of animals. Many return to the wild after the care and rehabilitation from staff and volunteers at the sanctuary. Unfortunately, many rescued animals are unable to return to the wild so are cared for at the Thailand Animal Sanctuary.
Here are some of the stories from animals past and present. The tragic stories show the need for amazing rescue centres and volunteers at the Thailand Animal Sanctuary.
Rescued Animals at the Sanctuary
The sanctuary rescues many species from gibbons, macaque, wild cats, bears, lorises, langurs, civets, reptiles, otters, birds and many more. The rescued animals come from the illegal wildlife trade, from the tourist industry, poor living conditions, the pet industry or even from the wild when they are found injured. You can volunteer to help animals like these at the Thailand Animal Sanctuary!
Bouncer - Asiatic black bear
Caught in a bear trap by poachers in the National Park at only a few months old. His front leg was irreparably damaged and was amputated. Homed at the sanctuary in a huge enclosure sponsored by "free the bears". He gets around with no problems and is quite a dominant bear - people often do not notice that he only has three legs!
John - Stump tailed macaque
Lived for 12 years in a tiny rubbish filled cage in a temple. Very underweight and stressed on arrival, pulling out his own fur, rocking back and forth and self abusing. This stress behaviour calmed when John entered a large enclosure and then became the alpha male in a family group.
Micky / Minnie - Lesser mouse deer
Rescued from a struggling sanctuary in southern Thailand. They were kept in a muddy pit where their offspring's dead bodies were left to decompose. They moved to a large enclosure full of vegetation at the sanctuary.
Mieuw - Bengal Tiger
Mieuw the Bengal tiger arrived at the centre on the brink of death. Kept as an “attraction” at a gas station. Mieuw's diet was only chicken scraps and as a result suffered from severe malnutrition. He was also suffering from multiple infections when he arrived and couldn’t move or even eat. After months of intensive care Mieuw started to make a recovery and regain some of his strength. He grew into a beautiful young adult but suffered problems with his movement and nervous system. Mieuw has now passed away but spent his final years cared for at the sanctuary.
Joy - Gibbon
Joy is a white-handed gibbon, rescued from the floating market where as a baby he was being used as a photo prop for tourists. When he arrived at the centre, Joy was underweight and hyperactive. Given amphetamines by his previous owner to keep him awake so he could work at bars and restaurants at night. Joy was successfully introduced to other young gibbons and now lives happily on the “Juvenile Island” with his 6 playmates and has a great time living freely in the trees, as a gibbon should.
Nee - Gibbon
Nee is a white-handed gibbon that has sadly lost his eyesight. When Nee arrived at the rescue centre after being kept as a “pet” for 10 years, he was already blind in one eye due to cataracts brought on by diabetes. His previous owner gave lots of candy and sugar to Nee causing the diabeties and also caused him to lose many teeth. Despite giving Nee the best care possible, we were unable to halt the growth of cataracts in his other eye and he is now completely blind and will need special care for the rest of his life.
Poppy and Peanuts - Sun Bears
Rescued from an elephant trekking centre on Koh Samui, Poppy and Peanuts are two young Malayan sun bears. Here they were being kept chained to a platform so that tourists could pet them and have their photo taken with them. Both arrived with severe medical problems due to malnutrition and lack of exercise. Now they are both doing well and enjoying life in their spacious enclosure with other bears.
Pepsi - Macaque
At only 6 weeks old, Pepsi the long tailed macaque was being kept as an “attraction” for tourists at a restaurant on the beach near Cha-am. He was kept in a small cage with chickens, deprived of contact with his own kind at such a young age. After many complaints from tourists, the owner finally gave him up to the centre where he was hand reared before being introduced to other macaques. Pepsi now happily lives in a big macaque group and has a great time playing with the other young monkeys.
Pom - Sun Bear
Pom the Malayan sun bear arrived at the centre at only about three weeks of age after being confiscated by the police from poachers. It was doubtful whether she would survive as she was so small and weak but with intensive care she survived and was successfully hand reared.
Zach - Gibbon
Zach, a white-cheeked gibbon, discovered for sale at the weekend market in Bangkok. He had probably been smuggled into the country from Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia for the illegal pet trade. He was successfully hand reared at the centre and now lives in a group with five other young gibbons.
Smokey - Macaque
Smokey, a pig tailed macaque - rescued from a miserable life tied up at a rubbish dump in Bangkok. He had been kept tied up next to a burning site for many years and his fur was black from soot when he was found. Deprived of the company of other macaques for his whole life and fed a very poor diet. He is now doing well at the centre.
Please be aware that this is not a current list of animals at the sanctuary. This blog is to highlight the stories of the animals and to highlight the need of amazing sanctuaries to help the rescued animals of Thailand.
Volunteer with Rescued Animals in Thailand
Do you want to volunteer to help care for rescued animals like these in Thailand? With Globalteer, you can volunteer at the Thailand Animal Sanctuary and work with local staff to help improve the quality of life for these special animals.