KANCHANABURI: A tiger with only three legs has been photographed eating a dead buffalo in Khao Laem National Park, near where a Karen man was recently attacked by three tigers that killed two of his dogs.
Niphon Chamnmongsirisak, director of Protected Area Regional Office 3 (Ban Pong), said yesterday he had received the report from Khao Laem National Park chief Kamalas Isa-ard.
The disabled tiger was photographed after Freeland Foundation members and park rangers set up 20 camera traps to track tigers between Feb 4 and Feb 7, following an attack on a local man last month.
The cameras filmed the Indochinese tiger feasting on the carcass of a buffalo in the Samathor Junction area, Mr Niphon said.
The tiger was believed to be one of the three that had attacked and mauled Wan, 46, on Jan 28, after he left his village in tambon Pilok in Thong Pha Phum district to round up his nine buffaloes from the forest.
Two of his three dogs were killed during the attack.
Mr Niphon said the Freeland Foundation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have recommended that the disabled tiger be captured and taken to a safe area as the animal's disability poses a risk to its health, particularly from poachers.
Mr Niphon said he had asked the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for assistance in their efforts in catching the animal.
After five villagers were apprehended for killing two tigers in Thong Pha Phum National Park early in January, locals decided to move 120 cattle to graze in a forest near Pilok-Samathor creek, inside Khao Laem National Park.