Habitat connectivity for endangered Indochinese tigers in Thailand

A critical analysis of habitat connectivity for the endangered Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris) in Thailand reveals that protected areas, while essential, are highly isolated and often resistant to movement, with four losing their tiger populations since surveys. The study found that integrating prey distributions significantly improved models predicting tiger occurrence, highlighting the importance of trophic interactions in assessing habitat suitability and dispersal corridors. Using an ensemble species distribution model based on camera-trap data from 1996–2013 across 15 protected areas, researchers employed graph theory to identify key corridors, with the Huai Kha Kaeng - ThungYai patch and Kaeng Krachan corridor emerging as vital for overall connectivity. The findings underscore the need for conservation strategies that account for both abiotic factors and prey availability to effectively support tiger populations in fragmented landscapes.

Suttidate, N., Steinmetz, R., Lynam, A. J., Sukmasuang, R., Ngoprasert, D., Chutipong, W., Bateman, B. L., Jenks, K. E., Baker-Whatton, M., Kitamura, S., Ziółkowska, E., & Radeloff, V. C. (2021). Habitat connectivity for endangered Indochinese tigers in Thailand. Global Ecology and Conservation, 29, e01718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01718