Spotted: Critically endangered Malayan tiger in Southern Thailand

The Star

06-05-2025

BANGKOK: A rare Malayan tiger has been spotted once again in Thailand's Bang Lang National Park, marking an exciting second sighting in just two years and a major step forward in the country's fight to protect the endangered species.
The Malayan tiger, scientifically known as Panthera tigris jacksoni, was captured on camera as part of a long-term wildlife monitoring programme in the park, Thai daily Bangkok Post reported on Sunday (May 4).
The park spans approximately 261sq km across the Bannang Sata, Than To, and Betong districts in Yala province, located in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border.
Chalerm Phoommai, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, told the Bangkok Post that this is the second time the elusive predator has been documented in the area.
The first confirmed sighting of this species occurred in 2023, when a Malayan tiger, later nicknamed 'Bang Lang 01', was filmed in the same area using the park's camera system.
Malayan tigers are a distinct subspecies found only in the southern forests of Thailand and the Malayan Peninsula.
They are genetically and geographically separate from the Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), which inhabits central and western Thailand, including protected areas such as Kaeng Krachan, Huai Kha Khaeng, and Khao Yai National Parks.
'This discovery highlights the ecological richness of Bang Lang National Park and Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary,' said Chalerm.
'These areas serve as critical habitat corridors, connecting protected forests across the Thai-Malaysian border.'
The sighting forms part of the ongoing SMART Patrol project, a robust ranger patrol and data-collection initiative designed to track threats and support ecosystem conservation.
In addition to the Malayan tiger, the park's camera traps have captured images of several other rare species, including elephants, gaur (a large bovine native to South Asia and South-East Asia) and tapirs.
Officials from the Wildlife Conservation Office and the 6th Forest Conservation Office (Pattani branch) are actively monitoring the Malayan tiger population, the Bangkok Post reported. They are using the data to help shape long-term conservation strategies in partnership with national and regional organisations.
The Malayan tiger, a national symbol of Malaysia and key conservation priority for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has seen a dramatic decline in numbers from an estimated 3,000 in the 1950s to fewer than 150 tigers in the wild as of 2022.
This decline is primarily due to habitat loss from rapid development, agricultural expansion, and poaching, says WWF-Malaysia.
Between 2016 and 2020, Malaysia's first National Tiger Survey, conducted by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, WWF-Malaysia, and other non-governmental organisations, revealed the continued dwindling of the Malayan tiger population.
The species is now Totally Protected under Malaysia's Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 and is classified as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, which assesses the risk of extinction for species worldwide. - The Straits Times/ANN