A newly-discovered breeding ground located deep in the jungles of Thailand has revived hope for conservationists working to protect the critically endangered Indochinese tiger.

While most people are familiar with the Siberian and Bengal tigers – both of which have populations ranging above 3,000 – this specific subspecies is estimated to only have a few hundred big cats left, most of which reside in animal sanctuaries or in the jungles of Thailand or Myanmar.

However, recent video footage of 4 mother tigers and their 6 cubs has been hailed “miraculous”, as this is the first evidence ever captured of the big cats breeding since conservationists set up wildlife cameras in 2016.

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The cameras were set up as a collaboration between Panthera, the Thai Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, and the Freeland Foundation in order to monitor the Indochinese tiger population.

The survey became the first to ever attempt observing the big cat subspecies, making the footage a rare find indeed.

“Combing through camera trap images is always exciting, but this time was unlike any other,” says Chris Hallam, monitoring advisor of Panthera. “In addition to establishing the first ever scientific estimate of tigers in that area, the cameras captured images of cubs, providing evidence that this is a breeding population of tigers—only the second known breeding population of the Indochinese subspecies in the world!”

Though poaching still remains a threat, officials say that Thailand is one of the best protected regions for tiger conservation in the world. The video discovery of the tigers residing in the eastern jungles is evidence of this.

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share This Roaring Good News With Your Friends (Photo by DNP/Panthera/Freeland)

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