A plan to fight the extinction of wild tigers in Cambodia would require importing the big cats from abroad, in what conservationists say would be the first transnational tiger reintroduction.

The last tiger seen in the wild in Cambodia was in its east in 2007, Un Chakrey, communications manager for the conservation group WWF-Cambodia, said on Wednesday. Poaching and the loss of habitat have wiped out tigers in Cambodia, and the species is considered functionally extinct there, with no breeding pairs, WWF-Cambodia said.

Under a plan approved last month by the Cambodian government, a small number of tigers will be imported and introduced to the Mondulkiri Protected Forest, the last place in the country a tiger was seen.

The first phase of the plan would call for two male tigers and five to six female tigers to be released, Mr. Un Chakrey said.

The tigers would most likely come from India, though Thailand and Malaysia are other possibilities, Mr. Un Chakrey said. They could be introduced as soon as 2020, he said.

The Cambodia program would learn from the experiences of India, which has had success in reintroducing tigers.

Next week, representatives of 13 so-called tiger-range countries across Asia will meet in New Delhi to discuss a plan to double the number of the animals across the region by 2022. The population in 2009 was estimated to be 3,200.

Studies in 2006 and 2010 indicated that tigers inhabited less than 6 percent of their historical range, according to the Red List of Threatened Species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

By AUSTIN RAMZY

source http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/cambodia-tigers.html?_r=0

There are loads of tigers from that ghastly temple in Thailand, take a few from there and give them back their freedom.

... I live in the country side and I don't think that people here want to see tigers roaming around... I suggest we park them in the cities where this kind of decisions are made... in the bathroom of the MP whose idea it was, preferably.

This is a good idea. All of the countries with tigers remaining should trade wild tigers regularly to counteract inbreeding. The stocks of wild tigers are too low now to sustain healthy populations. I worked on an eco-tourism project at the edge of Khao Yai National Park a few years back. One of the guides was a "reformed" poacher. He said that when they do see tigers in the wild now, they often show signs of inbreeding, such as kinked tails.

This sounds like a totally insane plane - I can only assume that the press has got it wrong and not the conservationists - you CANNOT introduce a non-native subspecies into a region - it would be a disaster.

 

There also have NEVER been any proven successful tiger reintroductions  - the only place that might prove successful in the future is the Siberian tiger in a vast wastes of Russia.

 

To reintroduce a tiger population you have first to address the causes of its extinction in the first place - ie, habitat loss, human encroachment and poaching and loos of prey - I see no evidence in the article that any of this has been considered.

 

It's not a case of being "nice" to have wild tigers, they are apex predators of an entire eco-system - to reintroduce them you have to re-establish the whole ecosystem - otherwise all you have is a glorified zoo.

 

as for tigers from the temple - please give it a rest - it just shows you haven't any grasp of any of the issues involved either at the temple or in wildlife and conservation in the region.

On 4/8/2016 at 6:14 AM, LawrenceN said:

This is a good idea. All of the countries with tigers remaining should trade wild tigers regularly to counteract inbreeding. The stocks of wild tigers are too low now to sustain healthy populations. I worked on an eco-tourism project at the edge of Khao Yai National Park a few years back. One of the guides was a "reformed" poacher. He said that when they do see tigers in the wild now, they often show signs of inbreeding, such as kinked tails.

What you say about inbreeding is true, but you can't just get a tiger from anywhere...they have to be the same subspecies and checked for genetic history - you certainly can't just release then into the wild and hope for the best

On 4/7/2016 at 7:54 PM, reggaebkk said:

... I live in the country side and I don't think that people here want to see tigers roaming around... I suggest we park them in the cities where this kind of decisions are made... in the bathroom of the MP whose idea it was, preferably.

I have to say that is a pretty facile comment