Chiang Mai livestock mauling a mystery

Initial reports pointed to stray tiger but parks officials no longer sure

Wildlife rangers in Chiang Mai have set up camera traps in the hope of discovering what kind of animal killed three cows belonging to a local resident near Doi Inthanon.

The attacks reportedly took place in tambon Ban Luang of Chom Thong district in the northern province (see map below).

Initially it was suspected that an escaped domesticated tiger was the perpetrator, and a warning to that effect was issued on Tuesday afternoon.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation cautioned the public to be on alert for an animal that might have escaped from a cage.

It also alerted all units, especially those in Chom Thong, to inspect enclosures in the communities under their jurisdiction.

Athapol Charoenshunsa, director-general of the department, said a local resident reported the sighting of a wild animal that looked like a big tiger in the forest near Ban Mae Pa Kor village in Ban Luang.

He said park rangers searched the area and found the carcasses of three cows with bite marks on their necks, lying about 50 metres from one another.

Rangers also spotted many animal footprints that were about six to seven centimetres wide but they could not identify what kind of animal left them. They have installed camera traps in the area to find the answer.

Mr Athapol said he believed that if it was a tiger, it would not be a wild one but a loose pet because there have been no reports of wild tigers on Doi Inthanon, the country’s highest mountain.

Local rangers have already checked all registered pet tigers in Chiang Mai and Lamphun provinces and found that all of them remained in their cages, he added.

The red pointer on Google Maps indicates where the attacks on livestock were reported.