Feral felines – dead or alive – have been making Bangkok headlines recently for a number of reasons, one of which is believed to be a “first” for Asia.
A Bangkok hospital last week played host to an unusually large – and furry – patient checking in after-hours for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan.
The patient: a full-grown, 12-year-old male tiger named Meow.
Meow had been living for 11 years at Wat Khao Luk Chang rescue center, a wild animal refuge run by Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand (WFFT) in Petchaburi Province.
WFFT secretary-general Edwin Wiek explained that Meow was rescued in 2001 from a gas station in Cha-am, where he was kept on a chain and often used as a photo prop for curious customers, The Nation reported.
At the time of his rescue, Meow was critically ill after suffering an unknown injury, Wiek said.
All was well up until a few weeks ago when Meow was suddenly unable to stand, Dutchman Wiek said. After some X-ray results indicated possible spinal abnormalities, Wiek decided an MRI was necessary so he phoned a doctor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, who said the procedure could be done.
“The management [at an undisclosed hospital] was very happy to help us, but they were concerned that a tiger on a stretcher, even under sedation, would scare the human patients in the hospital,” Wiek said.
Thus, the procedure was done last Wednesday night Jan.4 under the care of five vets and a nurse. Many of the hospital staff “couldn’t believe their eyes”, Wiek said.
The scan showed a fracture in Meow’s cervical 1 and 2 vertebrae and is likely to undergo surgery in coming days, he added.
Meow’s MRI is believed to be the first such exam done on a tiger in Asia.
More alarming tiger tales emerged earlier last week after customs officials on Friday Jan. 6 announced that they had seized four boxes containing tiger parts worth about US$60,000.
“There were four boxes and each box contained one tiger skin, bones and a skull. Each one weighed around five kilograms (11 pounds),” Director General of Royal Thai Customs Somchai Poolsawasdi told AFP.
It is believed the tigers came from Indonesia and were bound for China where they would be used for decorative purposes, Somchai said.
The boxes were en route to Mae Sai and had come through Bangkok’s central post office when a tip-off was received.
On the same day Global Tiger Initiative partners began a training program in Thailand for wildlife conservation professionals from national parks and protected areas in Southeast Asia.
The program is part of a conservation effort under the Global Tiger Recovery Program adopted by governments of 13 “tiger range” countries, MCOT reported.
Participants in the hands-on training initiative came from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Bangkok Tiger Tracker is Coconuts Bangkok’s regular round up of tiger-related news from Thailand and around the continent. Asia’s biggest cat is one of the most ecologically and culturally important animals in the world, but is facing extinction due to poaching and loss of habitat. It is estimated that there are only about 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild today in Asia, down from nearly 100,000 a century ago.
