PRACHIN BURI – The thin, left-eye blind tigress, which had previously wandered out of Mae Wong National Park and onto the road in the middle of a Karen village at Moo 18, Khlong Lan Phatthana Subdistrict, Khlong Lan District, Kamphaeng Phet Province since February 16, has now returned to the forest in Prachin Buri Province on June 6.
With the help of the Department of National Parks officials, this female tiger, named ‘Balakol’ which means ‘Khlong Lan’ in Karen language, received treatment for her eye wound, a wound on her left paw, and malnutrition. She stayed for 3 months at the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Uthai Thani Province.
Mr. Weera Khunchairak, Deputy Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, revealed that the tigress Balakol is around 2 years old, with a body length of about 1.60 meters, a height of 55 centimeters, a tail length of 60 centimeters, and weighs approximately 105 kilograms.
She is considered a fully grown tigress, in good health, able to live in the forest, and has the instincts of a predator. The officials, therefore, decided to release Balakol into the Thap Lan forest.
The reason for choosing to release her in the Thap Lan forest, besides being quite far from the community, is that the Khlong Lan forest, which is connected to the western forest, is still very abundant. This will help spread genetic diversity and increase the abundance of the forest ecosystem.
The officials have attached a radio tracking collar to monitor her movements and to ensure she does not pose a danger to people, as well as to follow up on Balakol’s life.
“This tigress is a subspecies found in Southeast Asia, so the prey animals are of the same subspecies. Even though there are tigers in the Thap Lan forest, it is believed that Balakol will be able to adapt. Moreover, tigers are predators and do not naturally eat their own kind. Currently, the officials are still closely monitoring to assess whether Balakol can hunt prey and live in the Thap Lan forest,” he said.
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