A young tiger that wandered into a village, triggering panic, was captured on Monday night and taken to a wildlife centre for medical treatment before it is released back into the jungle well away from population centres.
Surachai Photkhamanee, chief of Khlong Lan National Park in Kamphaeng Phet, said on Tuesday the animal was caught in a leg trap in Khlong Lan district and was found by rangers about 9pm.
A veterinarian injected the tiger with an anesthetic before it was put in a cage and loaded onto a lorry, which took it to the Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife breeding centre in Lan Sak district of adjacent Uthai Thani province, he said.
The tiger is about 3 years old and weighs about 90 kilogrammes. (continues below)
Park officials help a veterinarian inject the tiger with an anaesthetic after it was captured by a leg trap on Monday night in the jungle in Khlong Lan district, Kamphaeng Phet. (Photo: Khlong Lan National Park)
Vets said it was blind in the left eye, with a scratch on the cornea. It also had a small wound to its front left paw and was very thin.
It was safe, its injuries were being treated and it would be nursed back to good health before being released back into the Huai Kha Khaeng forest in about two months' time.
The young tiger roamed into a village in Khlong Lan last week, causing rising anxiety in the neighbourhood.
The people called for help and the park sent rangers to capture the animal.
The captured tiger in a cage on a lorry taking it to the Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife breeding centre on Monday night. (Photo: Khlong Lan National Park)