Tiger Rescued From Being Caged in Zoo Enjoys Uninterrupted Moment Floating in a Lake Hugging a Ball
About a year-and-a-half ago, Maruay didn’t know what grass felt like beneath his paws, or what breeze felt like when it brushed his sapphire flesh. He had never taken a sunbath or dipped his feet in river water. Instead, he spent his days caged inside barren concrete walls of a Phuket zoo where tourists looked at him the way humans look at their captives. Often, they tormented him with their obstreperous requests for photos and selfies. But back in 2022, word reached the officials of Thailand’s Wildlife Friends Foundation. They raided this zoo and rescued nearly ten tigers, including Maruay. A footage that has been running viral on the internet, shows a blissful Maruay floating in the lake, with his favorite toy.
It was only after getting freed from the shackles of Phuket’s animal farm that the two-year-old Maruay began living his life. Within the forested sanctuary, he is free to run around, wander in solitude, claw and scratch trees, and swim in a massive lake. And he loves to play with coconuts. “Maruay is always exploring. He’s really inquisitive of humans – so he’s always the first to come over and say 'Hi' to the tour guides and his feeders. Maruay enjoys a regular supply of coconuts – not to eat, but to play with,” the sanctuary describes on its website.
Today, he is living his “beast life.” He high-dives in the lake, relishes treats of fresh carcasses, and engages in playful kissing with his favorite tigress named Mee Mee. Mee Mee is the same age as Maruay and was rescued along with him from the same zoo. Plus, both are Bengal tigers. Mee Mee and Maruay love to spend time with each other, sometimes in the open field and sometimes in the lake. Meanwhile, he lives with his 12-year-old mother, Baithong, who was also in the crew of ten rescued tigers.
The above-mentioned footage shows Maruay engaged in a me-time moment as he enjoys by himself, half-submerged in the sanctuary’s lake. The backdrop shows the lake reflecting the thickets of green-golden bushes and shrubbery that spread out in the surroundings yonder. The lake’s waters quiver in slow, capillary-style ripples, amid which Maruay stands with his eyes closed in ecstasy. He seems to be engaged in a self-soothing ritual. Gripped tight within two of his paws is a giant red ball, apparently his all-time favorite toy.
Unfettered by the camera, the young tiger sculls and toddles in the water, hugging and kissing the red ball all the time. At times, he rests his head on the ball and even dances with it, swaying from side to side. He tries to explore the ball and put it into his mouth. All he wants is, it seems, to not let go of his red spherical companion. After all this play, he slows down and closes his eyes as if meditating on the stillness of the moment. Just like the ball, he lets himself float transcendentally in the sunlit lake. He is free and he wouldn’t let go of his beloved red ball, even for a moment. This is called “peace.”
You can donate to Wildlife Friends Foundation here.