The Bengal tiger is set to return to Cambodia through a historic reintroduction agreement with India. This initiative aims to restore the apex predator to the Cardamom Mountains. Cambodia officially approved a national tiger action plan to import cats into Kravanh National Park, adding urgency to efforts to restore the species. The plan marks a significant step in the country’s conservation strategy.
The species was declared extinct in the country in 2016. This ambitious move seeks to reverse decades of loss caused by poaching and habitat destruction. A soft-release enclosure stands ready in the jungle as of June 2026 to receive the first arrivals.
The Ghost of the Cardamoms
The last wild tiger triggered a camera trap in 2007. For nearly two decades, silence has weighed on these forests. Snaring and the illegal trade in animal parts systematically dismantled the population. By 2016, the tiger was declared extinct within the kingdom. Even the Indochinese leopard followed, being declared functionally extinct in 2023.
Now, momentum shifts toward restoring the ecosystem. India, having successfully increased its own census, is providing the founder stock. These Bengal tigers must adapt to a landscape empty of their kind for a generation. It is a gamble on nature's resiliency, assuming original extinction drivers can be held at bay long enough for a new population to take root.
Infrastructure and Pre-Release Groundwork
A specialised soft-release enclosure has been built within the Cardamom Mountains to help cats acclimate before full release. Scientists will monitor their adjustment to the humidity and local prey. Success depends heavily on food availability. A 2020 study suggested the landscape could support a small founder population of perhaps five tigers. Their survival hinges on the density of wild pigs and other mammals. Experts remain divided on whether current prey numbers are robust enough to justify the release.
Community Participation and Consent
The survival of a tiger depends on local people. In villages surrounding the mountains, formal consultation remains incomplete. Families worry about safety and livestock risks. Effective conservation requires that the buffer zone is built on participation. If communities are treated as bystanders, the project faces an uphill battle against snaring. For tigers to thrive, locals must see a path that includes their own security and economic well-being.
Ecological Risks and Uncertainties
Logging and hydropower projects create easy access for illegal hunters. A tiger program is a commitment to enforcement that must last for decades. Genetics also present a challenge; a small founder population carries a high risk of inbreeding. This requires a "sustained management" approach, periodically introducing new individuals to keep the gene pool healthy. Restoring a vanished species is a feat of science and political will. Whether these tigers thrive depends on the rigour of habitat protection and community partnerships.
Source
Cambodia wants its tigers back. So it plans to import Bengal tigers from India | Mongabay
