NEWSLINK: Tiger footage spurs hope for Thai big cat population

A male tiger noses the bloodied carcass of its latest kill in a Thai national park, extraordinary footage conservationists are hailing as a rare spot of good news for the endangered big cats.

The species has teetered on the brink of extinction across the Mekong region due to deforestation and demand for its striking pelts and body parts in traditional medicine.


But a pocket of forest split between Thailand and Myanmar -- known as the Dawna Tenasserim -- has become a holdout for the big cat.


Sightings of wild tigers are rare, but Thailand remains "one of the last strongholds" for them in Southeast Asia, WWF said Monday.


Camera traps placed in Thailand''s Mae Wong National Park in western Kamphaeng Phet province captured in late December a tiger circling a dead wild gaur, known to be the world''s largest bovine.

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