Cubs of slain mother tiger found alive

National park authorities have spotted three tiger cubs that lost their mother, killed near the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Uthai Thani four years ago.

Saksit Simcharoen, a tiger expert and chief of the Wildlife Research Division of the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plants Conservation, said his team recently found the three cubs, named Viriya, Sanphob and Veerapong. All were doing well, which was surprising.

Mr Saksit said the cubs, now over five years old, were captured on live cameras, adding that they were healthy and ready to start mating.

Viriya, the female cub, was seen in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, while Sanphob and Veerapong were spotted in nearby Mae Wong National Park in Nakhon Sawan, Mr Saksit said.

The mother of the three cubs was killed by villagers in the sanctuary’s buffer zone in 2013, when the three cubs were one year, four months old.

The forest officials then took their photos for identification and let them stay in the forest, rather than raise them in captivity.

“At that time, we did not know if they had any chance of survival. It is a miracle that we have found them alive and they seem to have coped well with their surroundings,” he said.

He added he believed the so-called smart patrol system operated by the forest officials played an important role in their survival as it prevents hunters from killing wildlife in the sanctuary.

Thailand has had great success in its tiger conservation efforts, and now boasts a population of over 200 tigers in the wild, the highest in the Asean region.

It plans to double the population by the year 2026 under the Global Tiger Recovery Programme undertaken by 13 countries in 2010.

Thanya Nethithammakul, chief of the Department of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the department is eyeing the Dong Phayayen-Khoayai Forest complex, a World Heritage site, as the second home for tigers.

He said the tiger population could be increased by deterring attacks on them by using stronger smart patrol systems and technology and educating local villagers.

According to a ministry survey, there are around 22 tigers with six cubs in Pang Sida National Park and Thab Lan National Park, but there has been no trace of the animal in Khao Yai National Park, once a renowned tiger habitat.

Mr Thanya said the Highway 304 wildlife corridor, now under construction, would help tigers from other national parks to migrate to Khao Yai National Park, adding that work on the project should finish in the next two years.

The wildlife corridor is being constructed at the suggestion of the World Heritage Committee, which advocated the need to link the divided forest complex.

In another development, the department will release 66 hog deers in Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in Buri Ram to mark the 65th birthday of HM the King this month.

This will be the largest number of hog deer ever released into the forest.

The department has met with success in breeding the deer-like animal and 629 of them have been successfully released since 2012, officers say.

They have been able to live and breed successfully in the forest, which later resulted in their being removed from the list of protected animals under the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act.