‘Rare’ predator seen at Thailand reserve for first time in over 10 years, photo shows
A trail camera at a national park in Thailand recorded a “rare” predator walking through the forest. The photo turned out to be the park’s first such sighting in over 10 years.
Wildlife officials at Kui Buri National Park were reviewing the footage from a trail camera set up near a ranger station when they saw a photo of a tiger, Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said in a Jan. 5 news release.
The photo, taken in 2024, showed an adult tiger passing by at night — and was the park’s first tiger sighting in over a decade, officials said.
Kui Buri National Park is considered “the premier spot for wild elephant watching in Thailand,” according to wildlife officials. Tigers were “rare” but previously recorded at the park.
Tiger conservation efforts at the park have been ongoing since at least 2006, the World Wildlife Fund said. Conservation groups considered “Kuiburi and its surrounding areas (to) have the highest probability of maintaining a tiger population in the long-term, due to the quality of the remaining habitat as well as the existing conservation measures in place.”
However, by 2012, Kui Buri’s tiger population had decreased significantly and was considered at risk of vanishing, the Bangkok Post reported at the time.
Wildlife officials did not specify what year Kui Buri’s tiger population dropped to zero or what caused the decline.
The 2024 tiger sighting was attributed to conservation efforts and has raised hopes that the predator could return to Kui Buri National Park, officials said. It’s unclear if the tiger lives at the park or passed through.
Kui Buri National Park is in southern Thailand, a roughly 175-mile drive southwest from Bangkok and near the border with Myanmar.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.