Cambodia’s plan to reintroduce tigers to the Cardamom Mountains, decades after their local extinction, has sparked debate over ecological readiness, governance, and community impact.The tigers are expected to be brought from India, prompting questions about their ability to adapt to different prey and landscapes, with experts warning that prey density in the Cardamom Mountains may simply be too low to support tigers in the long term.Snaring, targeted hunting, deforestation and infrastructure projects such as hydropower dams continue to threaten wildlife and tiger habitat in Cambodia.Residents of rural villages near the planned tiger release area say they have not been informed of plans to bring tigers into the forests that they rely on for their livelihoods.
Sat Born, 56, recalls freezing at the forest’s entrance when he first saw it. “Its head was this big,” he says, wide-eyed, spreading his hands to show the animal’s size.
Recollecting that eventful morning in 2001, Born, who now farms bananas and durians, retraces his steps from his home in Trapeang Chheu Trav village in the rainforests of the Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia. As he walks up a hill rising above the forest canopy, he points to a spot on the road. “It’s over here. When I saw the tiger, it was 9 a.m.,” he says. “I was really shocked … I couldn’t tell if the tiger was coming towards me.”
