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Aidan Jones

The deaths of 72 captive tigers at a private park popular with tourists in northern Thailand have renewed scrutiny of a lucrative industry that campaigners warn treats wild animals as “entertainment”.
The outbreak at Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai began in early February, with authorities initially attributing the deaths to canine distemper – a virus carried by dogs but often fatal to big cats. A deeper investigation is under way, with some medical experts suspecting contaminated food may have been the cause.
The park – a favourite with foreign visitors from China, India and Russia, especially – promotes itself as offering a rare chance to take photos and interact up close with tigers and their cubs.
It follows a business model seen across Thailand’s tourist areas, but one that has also courted controversy for breeding wild animals only to confine them for their entire lives in cages, brought out for Instagrammable moments costing visitors upwards of US$30.

“This tragedy highlights the extreme vulnerability of captive wildlife facilities to infectious disease,” the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand said in a statement.
The foundation, a long-established animal rescue and welfare group, also warned of the dangers of prioritising “entertainment over animal welfare and conservation”.
“Because of inbreeding there is a very big chance of weakness eventually,” its founder Edwin Wiek said.
“It is very common to see them more vulnerable to diseases, viruses, bacteria, bone deficiency … every now and then a new male is introduced into the group but that’s not enough.”
Authorities said the tiger deaths were unavoidable given the speed at which the illness spread – the 72 tigers reportedly died over a 12-day period starting on February 8 – adding that the carcasses had been incinerated according to health protocols.
By the time we realised they were sick, it was already too late
Somchuan Ratanmungklanon, Department of Livestock Development
“When tigers fall ill, it is more difficult to detect than in animals like cats and dogs,” Somchuan Ratanmungklanon, director of the Department of Livestock Development, told reporters on Sunday. “By the time we realised they were sick, it was already too late.”
While the tiger park, which has facilities in Mae Rim and Mae Teng, remained closed on Tuesday, questions have mounted over the cause of the tragedy – reportedly the largest mass death of big cats the country has ever seen at a private facility.
Senior veterinarians have suggested that a contaminated food source, rather than a virus, may have been responsible given the distance between the two locations and how quickly the tigers died.
“Considering that tigers in both Mae Rim and Mae Teng, locations 30km apart, suffered and died with identical symptoms, we looked for a common factor,” said Visit Arsaithamkul, a veterinarian who was at the scene, posted on social media.
“The investigation pointed to food: a specific livestock product sourced from the same supplier. Of the more than 200 tigers across both locations that consumed this food, nearly all fell ill – except for three cubs still being raised on milk.”


The tiger deaths have revived criticism of an industry that critics say makes tourists complicit in the mistreatment of wild animals.
“Tigers spend their lives confined and chained, only to be dragged out to pose for photos … these tigers died the way they lived – in misery, confinement and fear,” said Jason Baker, Asia president of animal welfare group PETA, in a statement.
While tiger parks stage up-close interactions with nature, Thailand’s wild tiger numbers are rebounding thanks to consistent conservation efforts, especially in eastern forested areas near the Myanmar border.
As many as 223 wild tigers now roam the country’s forests, according to Thai government estimates from 2024, making Thailand the first Southeast Asian nation to have recorded a recovery of wild tiger populations through conservation work.


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Why did 72 tigers die at a Thailand tourist park in under 2 weeks?

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‘By the time we realised they were sick, it was too late,’ said an official, as welfare groups decry a life of misery and confinement


‘By the time we realised they were sick, it was too late,’ said an official, as welfare groups decry a life of misery and confinement.


Why did 72 tigers die at a Thailand tourist park in under 2 weeks?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘By the time we realised they were sick, it was too late,’ said an official, as welfare groups decry a life of misery and confinement

‘By the time we realised they were sick, it was too late,’ said an official, as welfare groups decry a life of misery and confinement