Tourist area in north-central Vietnam warned for letting visitors handle tiger

The move came in response to a wave of images and videos widely circulated online in recent days, showing visitors handling a tiger.

The footage features a tiger cub named ‘Ngao’ being petted, held, and cuddled by both caretakers and tourists.

The friendly tiger cub has attracted throngs of visitors to the tourist area.

Forest rangers were quick to warn that such practices violate Vietnamese wildlife protection laws and pose serious risks to both humans and animals.

Allowing direct contact with dangerous animals like tigers, even if they are still young, is an unlawful act, the department stated in its notice.

As such, the site was requested to stop allowing visitors to handle wild animals, and to remove all images and videos related to the tiger interaction from social media.

The tourist area must also submit a formal explanation for its actions and ensure strict compliance with national regulations on wildlife conservation.

According to a representative of Hon Nhan Ecotourism Area, the site currently houses 25 tigers of various ages, all legally imported and raised since 2016.

Ngao has been in public view since the age of three months and now weighs around 23 kilograms at just over six months old.

The representative said that new safety measures had been implemented, including a glass enclosure that allows tourists to observe and take photos with the tiger without physical contact.