Thread: The Indochinese Tiger – Part One: Thailand’s largest cat on the brink of extinction

Indochinese tiger's last look in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary

The Indochinese tiger Panthera tigris corbetti is in dire straits with no chance of recovery to the magnificent numbers of the past. The future of these remarkable cats is uncertain, as man in his relentless search for money has eradicated the tiger from almost every forest in the region for millennium. Humans have systematically poached the tiger for its bones and pelt of this very important carnivore, and also hunt their prey animals destroying the fine balance of life and death in the forests.

Some two million years ago according to fossil evidence, the tiger evolved in Manchuria and Siberia. These predators came from saber tooth cats that thrived on the vast plains and forests at the time. The striped cat also moved west all the way to the Caspian Sea, and gradually moved south into China, Indochina and the islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali. About 10,000 years ago, the tiger went west from Indochina through Burma and ended up in India.
At one time, there were more than a hundred thousand tigers throughout their entire range. There were eight sub-species and four are now extinct including the Caspian, Chinese, Javan and Balinese. The others are the Siberian, Indochinese, Sumatran, and the Bengal. Unfortunately, they are all on the brink of extinction and it is estimated only 3,500 tigers to a low of 3,200 survive in the wild. A decade ago, there were approximately 10,000.


Male tiger camera-trapped on an old logging road in Kaeng Krachan National Park

How many tigers are left in Thailand is the question most frequently asked. It is estimated that 200-250 survive in only several forests, mainly in the west, a few in the northeast and a few in the Deep South, and that is it. In the Western Forest Complex, there could be about 150 tigers but the majority of that survives in Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuaries, Thailand’s top protected areas and World Heritage Site. The rest of the complex is fragmented, as are the other protected areas throughout the nation. There are no tigers in the north, the east or the mid-south of the Kingdom.


Tiger camera-trap close-up in Kaeng Krachan

Man is responsible for this decline. The Chinese medicine trade is probably the number one reason so few tigers remain. At the moment it is reported that a sack of tiger bones fetches more than a 100,000 baht from a middlemen who then jack the price even higher. The incentive to poach these cats is very high among rural village folk and they use whatever method they can to kill the striped predator.

Poisoning a snared deer or pig carcass is the number one way as it is silent, and it will get any creature that feeds on the dead animal, whether it is a tiger, leopard, bear or vultures, and a multitude of other creatures that eat carrion. More than a decade ago, the last red-headed vultures in Huai Kha Khaeng were killed in this way. This year, three tigers including a mother and two cubs were dispatched using poisoned remains here. One of them had its bones poached but they left the pelt (probably too heavy) where the poachers had butchered the young cat.

Rangers out on patrol came upon the rotting carcasses. Too little and too late!
It is without doubt the quality of the rangers and patrolling regimes in Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuaries is poor. Their budgets are small, training minimal, incentive low and number of personnel few in comparison to the importance and the size of these two protected areas as a whole. This universal problem throughout Thailand is the main reason so many forests have become depleted of any wildlife. With none, poor or loose patrolling, poachers slip in and out of the forest.


Female tiger camera-trapped by the Phetchaburi River in Kaeng Krachan

End-users like restaurants that offer wild meat are another reason for the depletion as the tiger’s prey species is slaughtered continuously to feed this voracious activity. Trophy hunting is another very serious problem that is carried out by rich and influential people using local poachers. Middlemen also flash money and provide food, guns and ammunition to promote the illegal trade in wildlife parts. Some of the poor people that live on the fringes of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are easily influenced, and contribute heavily to the declining populations of all wild animals.

Most of the rangers are local Thais or ethnic tribes people, and hence there are no secrets concerning patrolling regimes. It is easy for poachers to stay out of the ranger’s way. Ranger training and management in Huai Kha Khaeng/Thung Yai complex is provided by the Department of National Parks (DNP), and a New York based conservation NGO that unfortunately is poor judging from past performance.

These people will tell you that their research and so-called smart patrol rangers that provide protection will save the tiger. But as everywhere, it is extremely difficult to prevent poachers from entering the forest and taking what they can. It is sad, but at the present rate of decline, tigers could be extinct in Thailand within a decade or so.

An example of tiger depletion under the researchers nose has already taken place in India. Once the locals knew for sure tigers were in two protected forests after the scientific community had announced the program and the estimated population, it took one year for the poachers to wipe out the entire population of ten or so to nil.


Male tiger camera-trapped by the Phetchaburi River

Recently, the research people at Huai Kha Khaeng went on national TV about collaring the big cats and counting them with camera-traps in a two-part series. They even announced that there were about 75 individuals here, and the tiger’s home range was about 240 square kilometers. This is the only viable breeding population left in Thailand.

It did not take long for the unscrupulous wildlife traffickers to perk-up and begin an assault on the sanctuary. In front of the headquarters area in Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, snares and pipe guns are all over the place. It is very difficult and dangerous to patrol this area and there are tigers here where I photographed a tiger about five kilometres away from a noisy village. If these problems persist, the outcome certainly will not be rosy.

Another serious problem is the law. In the event someone is captured in a forest reserve with animal parts and guns, the DNP are duly bound to send the poachers to the nearest police station and hand over the suspects to these authorities. The rangers are then sent back to the protected area and the police take over where corruption then comes into play. The culprit or culprits are then set free to break the law again. There are repeat offenders all over Thailand. Very few actually spend time in jail mostly paying small fines and loads of bribe money, and hence poaching continues unabated. I know a young man just south of Huai Kha Khaeng who is out over 140,000 Baht paying bribes to the police and the court after he was caught cutting trees in a national park.

This is the sad state of affairs concerning these law-breakers with absolutely no chance of up-grading existing laws to better cope with this destruction. Finally, most rangers have very little incentive to protect and enforce the law due to low salaries, poor benefits and sometimes no payment for months on end. At the end of every year, temporary hire rangers don’t get paid for three-four months because of a breakdown in the monetary system forcing them to beg, borrow and steal. Some even become involved in the poacher’s activities or illegal logging, another serious problem for the reserves. This vicious cycle is ongoing and nature is taking a beating because of it.

What are the options? Better management, enforcement, protection, more personnel and funding, and truly dedicated rangers who have incentive. They must be paid well and have fairly good benefits to survive. As it stands, many forest rangers are in debt because of the horrendous financial system. They struggle with life but the higher-ups (government and permanent staff) live in semi-luxury.

A new ranger-training center should be set-up somewhere in Thailand (centrally located) to specifically train and educate new personnel for this difficult task. They should receive rank, good pay, benefits for them and their families, plus insurance in case something does happen. Some rank-and-file people in wildlife conservation are pushing for this but it could be sometime before any action will be taken to up-grade the rangers or add to their numbers.

Another serious ailment is social drinking of rice wine. Some rangers stay permanently intoxicated, and believe me I know a few that are government employees and are incapable of taking care of the natural resources. But social-ills like this are just a small broken cog in the wheel of wildlife conservation. However, there are some very good people out there that do care about the forests and wildlife even under the hardships associated with taking care of the protected areas.

As we carry-on with the 21st century, it is hoped that the Thai government will see the light one day and really take care of their natural heritage the way it should be. There have been some in-roads into capturing illegal wildlife traders and end-users but for everyone caught, how many are getting through? The government and NGOs should take notes from places like South Africa plus many other countries when it comes to patrol rangers and protection management. But Africa is mostly savannah and much more easily patrolled using aircraft and other high-tech applications unlike Thailand with its dense impenetrable forests.

Thailand is not alone in the destructive activities of politicians, wealthy resort and golf club advocates, big logging companies, local government officials and their mega-schemes plus millions of poor people who encroach and poach in the reserved areas and take whatever they can to generate food or money. The population explosion in and out of the forests is another major concern for the future.

As it stands, the countdown to extinction of the tiger and its prey species has already begun. All this doom and gloom is unfortunately very true, and only fast and decisive action by all parties concerned can help the future of the Kingdom’s tigers, and its magnificent wild heritage.

Watch for the next post on 'How I photograph Thai tigers in the wild'.