A tiger on a gurney? Peek inside Thailand’s wild animal hospital

Lantao is on the road to recovery. The little long-tailed macaque had an open fracture in her right arm and was severely traumatized when found on the Thai island of Ko Lanta.

At the time of her rescue, the baby monkey was blind in one eye and also severely malnourished.

But Lantao had a stroke of luck: volunteers took her to the Wildlife Hospital of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) in the province of Phetchaburi, roughly a two-hour drive south of Bangkok.

What happened to the baby monkey will probably never be fully explained.

“We can only assume that Lantao was attacked – possibly by dogs or other macaques,” says veterinarian Dr. Kwan.

When the hospital opened its doors in March 2005, it was the first facility of its kind in Thailand. Nearly 20 years later, it remains one of the few such centres in the country and is widely regarded as the most respected.

When an injured wild animal is found, WFFT is usually the first port of call.

Gibbons and pangolins as patients

Patients range from tigers and leopards to sun bears, pangolins, gibbons, otters, crocodiles and colourful hornbills. The elephants have had their own adjoining hospital since 2015.

WFFT was founded in 2001 by Dutchman Edwin Wiek. The man is something of a legend in Thailand and is regarded as a fearless animal rights activist who has defied all odds over the years.

A book has been written about his unusual life, “A Wild Life – The Edwin Wiek Story.”

His non-governmental organization provides sanctuary to countless species, offering them a second chance at life in spacious enclosures.

Many of these animals were previously exploited by the tourism industry, forced into breeding at illegal farms or kept as pets in cramped, unsuitable cages.

Many are sick or weakened or have open wounds when they arrive here – which is why a hospital was built just a few years after the foundation was set up, equipped with an X-ray room and a fully equipped operating theatre.

Wiek often spends years negotiating with authorities and owners to rescue helpless animals from horrific living conditions.

As was the case in 2016 with Joe, a southern pig-tailed macaque, whose mother was killed by poachers in 1988.

“I’ve seen a lot of animal suffering, but what Joe experienced is one of the most horrific things I’ve come across,” says the 59-year-old.

Joe was locked in a tiny cage between two houses and languished there for 25 years amongst rubbish and excrement. Wiek speaks of a “hellhole.”

Apart from rats, Joe hardly had any visitors – for social animals like monkeys, this is almost unbearable.

“I kept thinking about everything I’ve experienced in those 25 years – and Joe was always just sitting in that cage, during all this time.”

Wiek has lived in his adopted country of Thailand since the late 1980s and speaks the language perfectly. This helps enormously in the complicated rescue operations – and also in driving change in a country where animals are often treated more as a source of income and less as sentient being.

Wiek is the only foreigner authorized to advise the government on animal welfare issues.

Tiger cuddling as a tourist attraction

When Phuket Zoo had to close its doors during the coronavirus pandemic, WFFT rescued 11 tigers as well as an Asiatic black bear and a sun bear from concrete cages that were far too small.

The campaign made headlines across the country. In 2023, WFFT took in 12 tigers and three leopards from an illegal breeding farm. Cuddling with drugged tigers is a popular tourist attraction in Thailand.

“We believe that most of these tigers have felt grass beneath their paws and sunlight on their fur for the first time after they arrived at their new sanctuary home,” says a WFFT employee.

It is a similar story for many of the animals that are being allowed to move around freely for the first time – especially the almost two dozen elephants that are currently being cared for.

Almost all of them have been beaten, chastised and tortured with metal hooks by their mahouts (elephant handlers) in order to transport tourists on their backs without resistance.

One cow elephant rescued by WFFT has a clearly visible abscess on her leg due to years of violence. The would is regularly treated at the Wildlife Hospital.

The organization runs the I Love Phants lodge for visitors, including magnificent views of the landscape and a pool with a view of elephants.

Nearby, gibbons swing through the trees. Apart from the many rescued street dogs and cats, tourists are not allowed to get too close to the other animals – they are meant to live as wildly as possible.

Meanwhile, Dr Kwan and her colleagues face new challenges every day. Helmeted cassowary Bernie, with his bright blue and red neck, was probably smuggled into the country from Papua New Guinea.

He was severely injured in the head when he was brought in. Today, the flightless bird is doing well, but still needs specialized care.

Python with constipation

Whether tigers with a toothache, heavily pregnant gibbons in need of a caesarean section or neutering operations for bear macaques or monkeys that have suffered electric shocks while climbing – they are all treated at the Wildlife Hospital.

“We recently even had a python with constipation that we were able to help,” says Dr Kwan. Sadly, amputations of severely injured body parts are also part of everyday life.

The WFFT is currently building a new, much larger wildlife hospital for Thailand’s animals.

When it opens in May, it will also be able to perform state-of-the-art surgical procedures using endoscopy, for example. In future, this will also be able to help patients with complicated injuries – like little Lantao.