PHETCHABURI: A sixth endangered wild tiger has been spotted in the Kaeng Krachan National Park since 2019, the park has confirmed.
Mongkol Chaipakdi, director of Kaeng Krachan National Park, said a camera trap captured four images of the tiger, given the code name KKT-006M, on March 24, March 31, and April 1.
The tiger was shown playing in shallow water in the Sab Chum Hed area of the upper section of the Phetchaburi River, according to the director.
Camera traps were installed in the area to trace the movements of rare wildlife in the upper part of the river. It was a joint operation between the Wildlife Conservation Society of Thailand and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation.
The cameras took images of many wildlife species, including two tigers later codenamed KKT-002M and KKT-004.
Initially, KKT-006M was thought to be KKT-004. However, experts ran a detailed comparison of the images and found that KKT-006M carried stripes that were clearly distinguishable from KKT-004.
They confirmed no photos of KKT-006M were taken before March 24, and the tiger was, therefore, newly discovered.
KKT-006M was the sixth tiger found in Kaeng Krachan National Park since 2019. Two have been identified as males, denoted by the M at the end of the codenames, and two as females with F appended. The sexes of the two others remain unknown.
According to the park director, the experts agreed that the populations of the tigers' prey, such as deer, bulls, and wild boar, were growing.