The Pang Sida national park, in Thailand’s eastern province of Sa Kaeo, has launched a hunt for a tiger which has killed two buffaloes in the past week weeks.
The park’s chief, said today (Thursday) that three teams of trackers and hunters have been deployed, working with officials from the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Wildlife Research Centre, to patrol villages located close to the park in the search for the tiger, which may return to prey on domesticated animals.
He admitted that it is not unusual for wild animals, such as tigers, to stray out of their habitat in search for food because of the increase in their population, resulting in a fight for territory and sustenance.
He said that the tiger in question may be aging and too slow to hunt wild animals and has turned to preying on domesticated cattle in the villages.
He went on to say that park officials will set up more camera traps, to keep track of wild animals in the park if they venture out of their habitat, which may lead to harm to villagers or their cattle.
Two tiger attacks have been reported in the past two weeks. The first, on August 17th, was on a mother buffalo which was bitten on his hind legs and back by, what is believed to have been, a tiger in Korn Buri national park, about 2.5 km from Pang Sida national park.
The second incident occurred on September 1st, when a pregnant buffalo was also bitten on its hind legs in the forest, about 3km from Pang Sida Park and from a local community.
Both buffaloes later died.
