Kamphaeng Phet (Thailand) (AFP) – In the thick and steamy forests of western Thailand, 20 skittish sambar deer dart from an enclosure into the undergrowth — unaware they may find themselves in the jaws of one of the habitat’s 200 or so endangered tigers. The release is part of a project run by the government and WWF to boost the kingdom’s fragile tiger population by providing them with sambar to hunt and eat. The release is part of a project run by the government and WWF to boost the kingdom’s fragile tiger population by providing them with sambar to hunt and eat. The wild tiger population in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex, near the border with Myanmar, has increased almost fivefold in the last 15 years from about 40 in 2007 to between 179 and 223 last year, according to the kingdom’s Department of National Parks (DNP).
