Much can be learned from the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi Province, 50 miles (80km) east of Bangkok, Thailand, which houses over 200 Bengal tigers, 100,000 crocodiles and various other kinds of animals in a natural atmosphere. The facility is gaining a reputation for “achieving the impossible” by fostering warm relationships between creatures of different species and often between those that are instinctively uncomfortable with each other.

For instance, Sai Mai, a two year old Bengal Tigress was born in captivity at the Zoo and as a cub was suckled by a female pig until she was four months old. This unusual beginning to the big cat’s life has allowed her to develop loving relationships with other pigs and even a dog, which is especially surprising since cats and dogs are normally arch enemies and pigs are usually only seen on the menu rather than as guests at tigers’ dinner parties! But Sai Mai peacefully looks after six tiny playful piglets at the Zoo, providing much food for thought for us humans. This extraordinary queen of the jungle and her swine friends provide concrete evidence that it is quite possible to live side by side with those we might never have dreamt of associating with.

Perhaps it is time that we took a cue from Mother Nature and also learned to live in tolerance, understanding, peace and harmony with our fellow humans and with Nature herself in all her varied forms. If we work at it, such a transformation seems quite possible; after all if the animals can do it, so can we. For as the Bible states, in the Golden Age, countless new and unusual relationships will abound in the natural world: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together... The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of The Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-9 RSV)

For more photos and information please visit the following website:
http://www.mysticfamiliar.com/library/l_innocence_and_familiarity.htm