Leonardo di Caprio Thanks Thai Authorities for Rebounding Tiger Numbers

UTHAI THANI — When the lead actor of wilderness survival film “Revenant” tells you your government is doing okay helping tigers, then it’s a sign something is going right.

Numbers of Indochinese tigers in western Thailand are “roaring back,” Leonardo di Caprio said in an Instagram post Tuesday.

“In Thailand’s Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK) Wildlife Sanctuary, tigers are roaring back thanks to a major long-term effort by the government of Thailand,” he wrote.

Di Caprio said that tiger numbers have risen from 41 in 2010 to 66 today, a 60 percent increase. Tigers are even roaming in the region, helping to buoy the population of tigers in Western Thailand as well as Myanmar.

Advertisement

The plight of the tiger isn’t easy in Thailand. In 2016, authorities raided a “tiger temple,” and found 147 tigers, part of a tourist attraction. Footage of Indochinese tigers with new cubs were only taken in Khao Yai National park that same year, when they were feared extinct in the surrounding regions. Thailand and Myanmar are the last remaining sanctury of this specific species.

Listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, the World Wildlife Foundation attributes the top threats to Indochinese tigers to habitat destruction and poaching for folk remedies.

Advertisement

Related stories:

Rare Tiger Cubs Spotted in Khao Yai Signal Hope for Vanishing Species