Officials race to contain virus outbreak after 72 captive tigers die in Thailand | Thailand
A highly contagious virus is believed to have caused the deaths of 72 captive tigers in northern Thailand this month, and authorities are racing to contain the outbreak.
Teams are urgently disinfecting the enclosures and preparing to vaccinate the surviving animals.
The exact cause of death was not clear. In a statement made by the government’s 5th District Livestock Office in Chiang Mai, it said that the animals were infected with canine distemper virus, and veterinarians identified the mycoplasma bacteria as a secondary infection.
However, previously Somchuan Ratanamungklanon, director general of the livestock development department within the Thai ministry of agriculture, told the Thai publication Matichon that tigers were infected with feline panleukopenia.
“Treating sick tigers is very different from treating dogs and cats. Dogs and cats live close to us, so when they show symptoms, we can intervene and provide treatment immediately. Tigers, however, do not live close to humans. By the time we realize something is wrong, the disease may already be advanced,” he said.
The epidemic affected two areas of Chiang Mai: the mountainous areas of Mae Rim and Mae Taeng. According to media reports, dozens of tigers first started showing signs of the disease on February 8.
Tiger Kingdom Chiang Mai has been temporarily closed since the deaths. The zoo, which allows visitors to “hug, touch and take up-close photos with tigers,” is a popular tourist attraction.
Kritsayarm Kongsatri, director of the wildlife conservation office in Chiang Mai, told Thai media that the number of deaths recorded was “very unusual”.
In other tiger death cases, 47 people, along with three leopards, died after contracting bird flu in southern Vietnam between August and October 2024.
In October 2004, an outbreak of bird flu spread at the Sriracha tiger zoo in Thailand’s eastern Chonburi province. A total of 147 of the zoo’s 441 tigers have died or been euthanized to prevent possible contamination to other animals. It was stated that fresh chicken carcasses fed to animals were the most likely source of infection.
Tiger Kingdom Chiang Mai could not immediately be reached for comment.
