Cambodia considering reintroducing tigers

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH

Cambodia is hoping to reintroduce tigers to the wild, several years after the last confirmed sighting of the big cat in the country, it was reported Thursday.

The Phnom Penh Post reported that a proposal drafted by the Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity titled the “Cambodia Tiger Action Plan” has been sent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

It quoted department head Keo Omaliss as saying that environment officials are in the planning stages of reintroducing the animal to Cambodia.

According to a report in the New Indian Express on Tuesday, “with the numbers up, India has offered to donate cubs to the global community. Countries such as Cambodia and Laos have informally approached India seeking help in this regard.”

It said it has seen an increase of 30 percent since the last tiger census was held in 2010.

That same year, the Post reported that the although what were believed to be tiger tracks were sighted in the Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary in 2009, the last confirmed sighting was in Mondolkiri province in 2007, when two tigers were photographed on camera traps in a protected forest area.

Thomas Gray, regional species director at the Greater Mekong branch of the conservation group World Wildlife Fund, told the Post that free-roaming tigers would not pose much of a threat to people and that in addition, population figures for the animals upon which tigers typically prey are on the uptick despite serious deforestation across the country.