Rare Footage from a Thai Forest
Rare Footage from a Thai Forest
December 16, 2011
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Video camera traps in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex show amazing scenes of tigers, elephants, clouded leopards and other rare wildlife prowling about, alive and well.
©WCS-Thailand
New camera traps are allowing conservationists to take brief video clips, which are providing a rare glimpse into wildlife behavior. WCS has released new camera trap footage from the wilds of Thailand’s Western Forest Complex, home to elephants, tigers, sun bears, and other rare animals. The footage reveals intimate scenes of wildlife in action that few people ever see: A tigress and her cubs feed on a kill, leopards and dholes stop to investigate scents, and a clouded leopard—normally so heavily camouflaged that it can hide in plain sight—walks by.
The footage was taken over the past year from camera traps set up throughout the Western Forest Complex by WCS working in conjunction with the government of Thailand. It’s a hopeful sign for conservationists, whose efforts to save the region’s wildlife are clearly paying off.
wcs.org
Vid Here : Tigers in the wild captured on hidden cameras - CBS News
The Western Forest Complex (WFC)
The WFC is a huge area that unfortunately has been split up and divided by roads, dam reservoirs and human settlements plus an enormous population explosion. The protected areas in this system are mere islands when you actually come down to it. Some are seriously encroached upon by outsiders, and some are encroached upon from within where people expand out from their respective villages. Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary has some 15 Karen/Hmong settlements in this protected area (divided into West and East) and the villages are bursting at the seems. Where can these people go (only outwards)?
When Thung Yai was established in 1970s, there were seven households at the village of 'Jae Kae' near the the lead mine close to the border with Burma. When I worked here during the mid-1990s, the village had already expanded to over a 'hundred houses' and the school had almost a thousand kids. Now there are more than 300 households here. Unfortunately as a World Heritage Site, it is probably doomed by the shear number of people. Family planning has failed or was never introduced by the government. And this is just one village. The other villages in the park have expanded likewise and there is no-stopping them.
I recently visited 'Thung Yai West' and saw loads of local people and monks all over the place, coming and going, walking and driving the road. I did not see that much wildlife like in the old days. Traffic is heavy with an 'off-road taxi service' that runs through Thung Yai hauling people in and out. The future looks dim for this place and the rest of the parks and sanctuaries in WFC. Only time will tell and I hope and wish protection and enforcement will improve but I'm not holding my breath. All I can say is I was lucky to see Thung Yai when it was still teaming with wild animals. Now, it seems empty. Sad but true facts!
