Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 2 | Issue 1 | Mar - May 2017 | Page 16

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Thailand - the last stronghold of Indo Chinese Tiger
T
hailand was the first country in the region to deplete
its forests to such an extent that, by the 1980s it had
banned logging. It was also among the first to establish
national parks, but initially these were also badly stressed by
illegal logging and hunting.
last stronghold of the Indochinese tiger
A new breeding population of the critically endangered
Indo-chinese tiger has been found in a national park
in eastern Thailand, conservationists say. Camera traps
have discovered a small population with at least six cubs
At the time, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and even in the jungle.
Vietnam had a lot of pristine forests left, with healthy
populations of tigers. Tigers had declined in Thailand to Poaching and the loss of habitat has reduced the
the point where in the early 2000s it was thought they global population of the sub-species to under 250. Conser
were very small and fragmented.
vationists said the success was due to the stepping-up of
anti-poaching efforts in Thailand.
But since then, massive illegal exploitation has
badly depleted the forests and tiger populations in the Counter-trafficking organisations, Freeland and
other countries - even Myanmar - to the point where Panthera, the wild cat conservation group, conducted
Indochinese tigers are believed to be extinct in the survey with the support of the Thai park authorities.
Cambodia, down to just a handful in Laos and Vietnam
and with unknown, but almost certainly greatly reduced Until this find, only one other breeding population of
numbers in eastern Myanmar.
Indochinese tigers - also in a Thai national park - was
known of.
Meanwhile, improved conservation strategies have
allowed the tiny population of Indochinese tigers in “The extraordinary rebound of eastern Thailand’s tigers
Thailand to recover in some areas, although they have is nothing short of miraculous,” said John Goodrich,
disappeared in others. So, with its reasonably well-run tiger programme director at Panthera. The director of
national parks, Thailand finds itself unexpectedly the Thailand’s national parks, Songtam Suksawang, said:
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Vol 2|Issue 1|Mar - May 2017