An endangered Indochinese Tiger was filmed by a camera trap in forest in the Ywarhilu area of Tanintharyi Region, according to the international wildlife conservation charity, Fauna and Flora International (FFI).

In a statement issued on 29 July to celebrate Global Tiger Day FFI released previously unseen footage of a newly discovered Indochinese Tiger taken on 16 May, in the Ywarhilu area of Bokepyin Township, in Tanintharyi Region. The new tiger, identified by its stripes, which are unique to each tiger, was one of eight captured by the camera.

The footage was filmed by an FFI camera on 16 May. There are believed to be only 22 Indochinese Tigers in Myanmar and only an estimated 196 in the world living in the wild, in Myanmar and Thailand. Until recently their range also stretched to Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, but no tigers have been recorded in those countries in recent years. They are classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

“It is fantastic to have detected a tiger we have not previously seen before roaming in the wild, ’said Saw Soe Aung, the Acting Programme Manager of Fauna & Flora, to the Geographical website.

“Unfortunately, this tiger sighting is rarer than we would like. The future of this species is under grave threat, and urgent action is needed to secure its survival”, he continued

The remaining population of tigers is threatened by hunters because there is a continual demand for tiger parts in traditional Asian medicine. To try and halt the decline in tiger numbers FFI is implementing conservation activities with local communities, in collaboration with the UK Government and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The first time tigers were recorded in Tanintharyi Nature Reserve was when they were photographed by camera traps in 2018, according to the Myanmar Forestry Department.