A Hundred Cameras Assess Prey for Tiger Reintroduction
A camera trap hangs on a tree at Khnorng Phsar, a national park of Cardamom Mountain in western Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Photo: AP/Heng Sinith
- By Torn Chanritheara
- April 26, 2024 7:25 PM
PHNOM PENH – More than 100 cameras have been set up to monitor prey before tigers are reintroduced at Cardamon Mountain.
The survey is one of the biggest in the country with results to be released as early as June, officials said.
Environment Ministry Secretary of State Chea Sam Ang spoke of the camera figures at a conference on Sustainable Financing for Tiger Landscapes on April 22 and 23 in Bhutan.
The conference brought tiger range countries together with private and public sector donors, international development agencies and tiger conservation NGOs to discuss existing and new funding streams. It sought $1 billion for tiger conservation by 2034, the next Year of Tiger.
Sam Ang told the conference that Cambodia is proud to be a tiger range country despite the last photo of the big cat being recorded in 2007 in Mondulkiri.
Cambodia and India signed an agreement in 2022 on cooperation in biodiversity conservation, sustainable wildlife management, and restoration of tigers and their habitats. In mid-February, the Ministry of Environment deployed cameras to inspect prey ahead of the tigers’ return.
“We are currently implementing one of the largest camera trap surveys conducted in the country using more than 100 cameras with support from the Wildlife Institute of India to monitor prey number in the Cardamon reintroduction landscape,” he said.
He said that with stability, national development and economic growth, the conditions were right for tigers to return. The government was committed to the reintroduction plan at Cardamon Mountain Ranges.
Sam Ang said the conference seeking funds to support tigers is particularly appropriated for Cambodia. He asked for support from the international community and Indian government who would provide tigers to Cambodia for the successful reintroduction.
Ministry spokesperson Khvay Atitya said the result from camera traps will be known in late May or early June. The survey focuses on tiger movements and prey in the protected area.
Three female tigers and one male tiger will be delivered by India in late 2024 or early 2025, he said. They will be released in a designated area of 90 hectares where the camera traps were deployed to allow them to adapt to their new environment.
“We will study their health, adaptation and hunting in our forest for a period of time before releasing them into their natural habitat,” he said.
Atitya said that the ministry is also studying the possibility of importing more tigers. The four tigers to be introduced are the first of 11 which Cambodia plans to import.
