Tiger cub on the loose was ‘not a liger as claimed by owner’
Wildlife officials debunked the claim of the owner of a tiger farm in Chachoengsao province that a cub, which had escaped from his farm earlier this week, was a liger – a hybrid offspring of a male lion and a tigress.
Inspection of the recaptured animal at the farm in the province’s Bang Khla district on Friday revealed that the cub is a tiger, Pitak Inthasorn, director of Wildlife Protected Area Regional Office 2, said, debunking the owner’s earlier claim that he had painted black stripes on the liger cub so it would look like a tiger for a commercial ad shooting.
The young animal was spotted by a motorcyclist driving along a street in Chachoengsao, 80 kilometres east of Bangkok, on Thursday afternoon.
Bang Pakong police and a rescue team rushed to the scene after being alerted at 3.30am that a tiger was on the loose.
Officials took about 10 minutes to capture the cub, which was quite friendly and playful with humans.
On Thursday evening, Yutthana (last name withheld), owner of the tiger farm, claimed that he was the owner of the animal, which was in fact a liger, before taking it back.
Pitak said officials would carry out a detailed investigation on the cub regarding its originality based on the microchip database and the ownership document submitted by the owner.
Tigers are protected under Thailand’s Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act of 2019 and under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
A liger, meanwhile, is not protected by the laws.
