Tiger discovery in Thailand

This video is called Wild Indochinese Tigers in Thailand.

From Wildlife Extra:

Tigers recorded in Thailand’s Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary for the first time

Conservationists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have for the first time captured images of a tiger in Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, officially confirming the presence of these cats in the Sanctuary.

Covering 868km squared, Salakpra is part of the Western Forest Conservation Complex (WEFCOM), a priority tiger area located close to the Myanmar border. Although tigers have been known to live and breed in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in the northern part of WEFCOM, no tiger has been recorded as far south as Salakpra until now. The two sanctuaries are connected through the Srisawat Forest Corridor, which ZLS say could be an important area for tigers providing that the right protection is in place.

For years rangers, villagers and hill tribes people in the area have maintained that they have seen tigers and signs of tigers south of Huai Kha Khaeng, which prompted researchers at ZSL to undertaken the first comprehensive survey of Salakpra to investigate the presence of the big cat.

Last spring, they set up camera traps along known wildlife pathways into two areas of the sanctuary, and almost one year later they were rewarded with the first image of a tiger in Salakpra. Three days after the first image, another shot was taken of a tiger in a different part of the sanctuary. It was confirmed that it was the same animal in both images, and has been identified as a female born in Hui Kha Khaeng. “These two images confirm what rangers and villagers have long suspected – that tigers born in Huai Kha Khaeng are moving at least as far south as Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary,” says Craig Bruce, ZSL’s Senior Programme Manager for Asia. “Tigers are facing a very real threat of extinction in Thailand and across their range. That we now have evidence of tigers in an area where they have not previously been recorded is extremely positive news – it suggests they are using more of the WEFCOM landscape than previously thought. The next stage of our work will be continued camera trapping to build a picture of prey availability in Salakpra and determine whether other nearby areas are also being used by tigers.”