West Thailand: Tiger cubs spotted in secret jungle hideout
Hidden cameras deep within Kanchanaburi‘s Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary have snapped jaw-dropping photos of two tiger cubs.
Trail cameras, strategically placed by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, recently struck gold, capturing never-before-seen snapshots of the tiger cubs on August 3. These heart-melting images reveal the untamed beauty of nature’s fiercest felines.
Officials from the Department collaborated with Panthera South and Southeast Asia Regional Office, along with the brilliant minds at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Forestry, to deploy a whopping 420 trail cameras across the western realms of forest reserves. Their mission? To closely monitor the elusive wild cats, including majestic tigers and their elusive prey.
In an astonishing twist, the cubs’ elusive mother, code-named TWT128F, was initially detected and immortalised on film at 10.03am on August 3, making her first appearance, only to reappear mysteriously on August 8 at 11.38pm. The identity of the cubs remains a mystery, as they are yet to be assigned their official tracking codes.
The same trail camera in this lush jungle hideaway captured a magnificent male tiger, tagged as HKT270M, not once, but three times—on April 20, July 6, and June 13. Six mesmerising species, including leopards, clouded leopards, marbled cats, Asian golden cats, and blotched cats were spotted, reported The Nation.
In related news, a landmark rescue operation unfolded in northern Thailand, where a dozen tigers and three leopards were liberated from a hidden tiger farm. This covert operation, conducted on December 16, was the result of legal proceedings against the farm over suspected illicit wildlife trade. Read more about this story HERE.
In other news, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and related departments arrested a Thai man for running an online shop illegally selling tiger carcasses and other protected animals. This comes in the wake of the arrest of two individuals in January this year for selling tiger carcasses online. The case was connected to another suspect managing a Facebook account under the name Maew Pong (translated as ghost cat), through which tiger carcasses were being offered. Read more about this story HERE.
