Officials from Thailand’s Wildlife Conservation Office will consult experts from the Khao Nang Rum Wildlife Research Station and conservationists on whether to capture a wounded wild tiger alive, to be raised elsewhere, or to allow it to remain in the jungle.
The tiger, which has lost its right rear leg, was recently captured by camera traps eating a buffalo carcass in the jungle in Thong Pha Phum district of the western province of Kanchanaburi.
Director of the Wildlife Conservation Office Sompong Thongseekhem told Thai PBS today (Thursday) that he is not sure if this is the same tiger that recently attacked Karen villagers inside the Khao Laem national park.
He said that one of the victims of a tiger attack, claimed that the wounded tiger is smaller than the one which attacked him, but this is unconfirmed as yet.
He said that tiger experts have been comparing the stripes on the body of the tiger caught on camera with the tiger database, to determine whether it is a stray tiger from Myanmar or native.
Normally, tigers live deep inside the jungle and do not approach human settlements, but this one is wounded and may not be able to hunt other animals, choosing to attack domesticated animals instead, said Sompong.
Meanwhile, the village head said that villagers have started selling their cattle after a series of tiger attacks on them and anyone who ventures into the jungle.
He pointed out that, when cattle cannot be left foraging for grass in the forest unattended, they are brought to the village, causing a new problem when they eat the vegetables and other plants in the farms.
