A deadly virus and bacterial infection have killed at least 72 tigers at a private animal park in Thailand’s north in recent weeks, authorities said.
The provincial livestock office in Chiang Mai said in a statement on Friday that testing detected the highly infectious canine distemper virus as well as bacteria affecting the respiratory system.
“When tigers fall ill, it is more difficult to detect than in animals like cats or dogs. By the time we realised they were sick, it was already too late,” Somchuan Ratanamungklanon, director of the national livestock department, told local media. The park where the deaths occurred, Tiger Kingdom, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
