Villagers living near the edge of Bang Lang National Park in Tarnto district of Thailand’s southern province of Yala have been advised by park officials not to venture out on their farms after recent footprints of a tiger were found.

Padet Laithong, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said today (Wednesday) that a team of veterinarians and officials from the national park have been sent to investigate and assess the situation.

He said that it is still unclear whether the tiger is injured or is so old that it cannot hunt, straying out of its habitat to look for food near human settlements. It has not yet been decided whether to capture the beast or to try to force it back into its habitat in the park.

The Bang Lang National Park covers a total area of over 26,000 hectares of mostly pristine forest, straddling Bannang Sata, Than To and Betong districts of Yala province. The tropical rain forest is the source of the Pattani and Sai Buri rivers and several canals and it is rich with wildlife, including many rare species.

According to the Hala Today Facebook page, park officials have estimated from the footprints that the male tiger weighs about 200kg and have warned villagers who live near the park to exercise special caution.

Camera traps, installed by the wildlife research centre at Hala-Bala peat swamp forest, captured images of two tigers about two years ago.