BANGKOK: A national park in Thailand has not one but three reasons to celebrate after confirming a rare Bengal tiger is raising a trio of cubs in the protected area.

Park rangers first spotted a single cub with its mother on a camera trap last year in Kaeng Krachan National Park, around 130 kilometres southwest of Bangkok. But further footage, retrieved only this week from cameras damaged by heavy rain last year, confirmed that the litter is three-strong.

“This is the first time we have recorded a tiger raising three cubs in the national park,” Kaeng Krachan National Park chief Mongkol Chaipakdee said in a statement on Friday.

“We were only able to recover the footage this week because our camera was damaged due to rain last year.” The camera trap footage shows the three cubs scampering in leaf litter while their mother prowls around.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2025