Thailand Tiger Rescue: Over 80 Tigers Die After Removal From Illegal Tourist Spot

Over half of the tigers rescued from a tourist spot in Thailand three years ago have died due to weakened immune systems, according to recent reports.

Public service broadcaster Thai PBS reported that of the 147 animals rescued by the government from the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno temple near Bangkok, there have been 87 that died in captivity.

Prior to their rescue, the tigers were being kept and illegally bred at the temple, where tourists could pay to take photos with them and bottle-feed their cubs, according to reports. When the animals were taken in by government forces, it was found that inbreeding had effectively left them with no immune systems.

Prakit Vongsrivattanakul, deputy director general-director of Thailand’s department of national parks, wildlife and plant conservation, said that this left the tigers highly susceptible to conditions such as canine distemper virus.

When the temple was being raided, government officials discovered 40 dead cubs being kept in freezers, and 20 jars containing organs and dead cubs. A monk thought to be fleeing the temple was found to be transported over 700 vials of tiger skin as well an unknown amount of tiger teeth in a suitcase hidden in his truck.

“When we took the tigers in, we noted that they had no immune system due to inbreeding,” the director-general told state-owned news outlet MCOT. “We treated them as symptoms came up.”

Some of the exact figures could not be confirmed, as some local news reports have suggested that 87 have died.