Being nursed back to health

Tailand: Village in panic, rangers capture tiger

An Indochinese tiger(Bild: Suttisak - stock.adobe.com)

A wild tiger has wandered into a village in Thailand, causing panic among the local population. Rangers have managed to capture the three-year-old, skinny and starving feline in the province of Kamphaeng Phet using a trap.

As there are less than 200 remaining specimens in the wild in Thailand, such encounters are rather rare.

Tiger was brought to wildlife park
The animal was injured on its left paw and extremely thin. Veterinarians had anaesthetized it in order to bring it to a wildlife park. The tiger is to be treated and nursed back to health there before being released in around two months' time in the Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife sanctuary - far away from villages and people, reported the Bangkok Post newspaper, citing the relevant authorities.

Poaching is a major threat to tigers
Thailand is considered the center of the Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) distribution area. The subspecies is classified as critically endangered. Poaching, illegal trade and habitat loss in particular have severely affected the population.

In recent years, however, the numbers in Thailand's forests have increased again: Last year, the authorities estimated them at 189 - twice as many as in 2014.