Twelve tigers and three leopards have been rescued from a tiger farm in northern Thailand, where they were held in captivity. The rescue operation, led by Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) veterinary teams and wildlife experts, began on December 16th following legal action against the farm for alleged illegal wildlife trading.
This marks the first phase of Thailand’s largest NGO-led tiger rescue operation, with a total of 35 tigers expected to be rescued.
The initial rescue focused on elderly tigers and ailing leopards requiring urgent medical care. Among the rescued were an emaciated elderly tiger, and a twenty-year-old male tiger with breathing difficulties. The animals, previously confined to small concrete enclosures, have since been transferred to WFFT’s sanctuary.
The sanctuary, located in Phetchaburi’s Tiger Rescue Center, offers over seventeen acres of near-natural habitat for the tigers to roam, swim, and socialize.
Thailand has around 1,700 tigers in captivity, bred in facilities known as tiger farms, for sale to zoos, as exotic pets, or for their body parts in traditional medicine. In the wild, Thailand is home to the critically endangered Indochinese and Malayan tigers, with an estimated 189 remaining. (NNT)
