At least 72 tigers have died in recent weeks at a privately owned animal park in northern Thailand following an outbreak of disease, according to local authorities.
Officials said the deaths occurred at Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The provincial livestock office reported on Friday that laboratory tests confirmed the presence of canine distemper virus, a highly contagious disease, along with a bacterial infection affecting the animals’ respiratory systems.
Authorities said the combination proved fatal for dozens of the big cats.
“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.
Representatives of Tiger Kingdom were not available for comment on Saturday.
The park’s website promotes opportunities for visitors to interact closely with the animals, including touching them and taking photographs.
Animal rights group PETA Asia criticised the conditions in which the tigers were kept.
“These tigers died the way they lived — in misery, confinement and fear,” the organisation told AFP.
“If tourists stayed away, these places would quickly become unprofitable, and tragedies like this would be far less likely to happen,” the group added.
