NEW YORK, March 30 (Xinhua) -- A new breeding population of Indochinese tigers was discovered in eastern Thailand, giving hope for the extremely endangered sub-species of less than 250 tigers, Thai conservationists said Tuesday.
In the images captured by hidden camera traps throughout 2016, this herd consists of six cubs and four females. It is the world's second known breeding population of Indochinese tigers living in the wild. The only other growing population in the world of about three dozen tigers lives in a forest in western Thailand near the border with Myanmar.0 The 156 camera traps were installed by Thai wildlife authorities along with Freeland, a group against wildlife trafficking, and Panthera, a wild cat conservation group.
Poaching for illegal wildlife trade and destruction of habitat caused grievous population losses for wild tigers, which dwindled from 100,000 a century ago to 3,900 today as claimed by the groups in a joint statement.
For Indochinese tigers, which used to live in various parts of Asia, the population has declined to an estimated 221 according to data from AFP.
"The extraordinary rebound of eastern Thailand's tigers is nothing short of miraculous," said John Goodrich, the director of Panthera.
