A canine distemper outbreak has killed at least 72 tigers at Thailand’s Tiger Kingdom, raising alarm over captive wildlife conditions and intensifying calls for stricter tourism and animal welfare regulations.
A deadly outbreak has killed at least 72 tigers at Tiger Kingdom, a private wildlife park in northern Thailand, officials confirmed Friday. Laboratory tests revealed the tigers were infected with a highly contagious canine distemper virus and a respiratory bacterial infection.
The incident has sparked renewed calls for stricter regulations on wildlife tourism and the treatment of captive animals in Thailand, highlighting the risks posed by close human animal interactions in commercial parks.
“When tigers fall ill it is much harder to detect than in domestic cats or dogs. By the time we realized it was already too late,” said Somchuan Ratanamungklanon, director of Thailand’s National Livestock Department.
Tiger Kingdom, which allows visitors to touch and take photos with the big cats, could not be reached for comment. Animal rights group PETA Asia criticized the conditions at the park saying “These tigers died the way they lived in misery, confinement and fear. If tourists stayed away these places would quickly become unprofitable and tragedies like this would be far less likely to happen.”
Experts warn that canine distemper virus spreads rapidly in captive environments especially where animals are kept in close contact. The combination of viral and bacterial infections made the outbreak particularly deadly.
