Three girls in traditional Ukrainian woven dresses and flower wreaths Photo (c) Maria Belford

A sky of prayer flags hanging overhead at Songtsam Monastery in Shangrila, Yunnan. (c)Yirong Li 

The Tiger Temple is a remote Buddhist temple in Thailand near the Myanmar border. It was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for wild animals. Most of the animals residing there are tigers, many rescued from poachers or orphaned due to illegal poaching activities.  The tigers are handled by Thai monks, international volunteers and the local Thai staff. Once a day, they are walked on leashes to a nearby quarry. Originally they would roam around freely, but nowadays with the increase in visitors and the number of tigers, they are chained for safety. The staff closely guide visitors as they greet, sit with, and pet the cats. They keep the tigers under control and the abbot will intervene if a tiger becomes agitated. The temple started off with a single rescued cub in 1994 and currently has 102 tigers that have a fighting chance of survival under the protective…

(c)Jamie Terrin