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With World Tiger Day just around the corner, there is good news for Thailand’s big cats.
The tiger population in the country’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM) — a 18,000-square-kilometre (6,950-square-mile) forest area that includes 11 national parks and six wildlife sanctuaries — is estimated to have more than tripled between 2007 and 2023, from 41 to 143.
The remarkable comeback was observed in a new joint study led by Thailand’s Department of National Parks (DNP) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The study was recently published online in the scientific journal Global Ecology and Conservation.
It’s not just the tigers that are recovering: a companion study, published at the same time as the tiger assessment, found that populations of endangered ungulates (hoofed mammals such as deer and wild cattle, which are the tigers’ main prey) have doubled in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, one of three protected areas, along with Thung Yai East (TYE) and Thung Yai West, in the forest complex.
The increase reflects “more effective management” of the forest and is the result of more than a decade of conservation interventions, said Pornkamol Jornburom, director of WCS Thailand and one of the biologists working on the new study.
“This forest complex is home to many endangered species,” says Jornburom. She hopes WEFCOM “can be a role model for the conservation and recovery of wildlife populations.”
A resounding success
Jornburom, who has worked on conservation projects at WEFCOM since 2005, says she has seen the landscape change dramatically.
One of the biggest threats to wildlife in the area is poaching, which is best combated by patrols. In 2005, these were limited and not systematic, Jornburom says, adding that rangers “may have reported verbally to their managers, so there was no data collection or record-keeping.”
But WEFCOM — the largest forest area in Thailand and the largest forest trail on mainland Southeast Asia, according to WCS — is a hugely important habitat, not only for tigers but also for endangered animals such as Asian elephants, hornbills and banteng. The complex also has a huge diversity of species: 150 mammals, 490 birds and 90 reptiles.
It’s also a relatively unusual landscape in the region. Most tiger conservation focuses on protecting small, isolated pockets, but WEFCOM connects multiple national parks and protected areas through forest corridors over a large area — vital for tigers, which need up to 300 square kilometers (115 square miles) of habitat to roam.
The DNP began working with WCS to “build and strengthen site-based protection,” Jornburom says. Patrol teams began using GPS to pinpoint locations, and a standardized reporting form to collect data has helped identify patrol routes, wildlife distribution and locations of illegal activity.
In 2007, conservationists installed camera traps that built up a dataset that researchers could use for their population assessment in the current study in the three main protected areas. Individual tigers can be identified by their unique stripes, similar to a human fingerprint.
According to Jornburom, the 250% increase in tiger numbers and the doubling of banteng and sambar deer numbers are proof that the expanded patrols are having an effect.
“When we protect tigers, it actually saves many other species: not just the prey, but also the habitat,” she says.
A ‘conservation dependent species’
While Thailand’s success story offers hope, the outlook for the entire region is not so optimistic.
Tigers were originally common in Southeast Asia, but became extinct in Singapore, Java and Bali in the 20th century. In recent years, they have also disappeared from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
This has led to small, isolated tiger populations in Myanmar, Indonesian Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, the latter of which has been a source of concern to conservationists following a recent spate of tiger deaths.
Tigers are a “conservation-dependent species” that need constant intervention to protect them from the threat of hunting and poaching, says Stuart Chapman, leader of WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative. In Southeast Asia, their numbers are so low that they have reached a “tipping point” where accidents, disease or conflict could drive populations to extinction, he adds.
“Every tiger counts, especially when populations are so low that recovery depends on the absence of additional threats that could potentially wipe out the species,” Chapman said.
Chapman, who was not involved in the study, says the WEFCOM research is a “historic” moment for the species and shows that “with good habitat management and healthy prey populations, results are possible.”
“Thailand, after decades of sustained conservation efforts, has achieved this result, and it is extraordinary,” Chapman said.
According to the DNP’s most recent survey, there are an estimated 179 to 223 adult tigers living in the wild in Thailand, up from 148 to 189 in 2022.
WEFCOM currently holds the largest share of the country’s tiger population and has the potential to support up to 2,000 tigers, WCS said. However, this depends on factors such as effective protection, prey availability and community involvement, Jornburom said, adding: “We also need more technology to help and support the (rangers) on the ground.”
She is optimistic that with more patrols and funding, the population at WEFCOM can continue to grow, and hopes that other national parks will adopt the model to save their tiger populations.
“I think it is a very inspiring model for intervention for other landscapes and protected areas – not only in Thailand, but also in our neighbouring countries.”
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