Despite Indochina's potential for tiger conservation, little tiger research, conservation planning, or protected areas management has been done here yet due to decades of civil war and political turmoil. The region was largely closed to foreign scientists until recently, and exciting new scientific discoveries lurk within this tantalizingly unexplored realm. WWF is embarking on a new era of tiger conservation in the Indochina region, starting in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Long-range strategies are taking shape and are starting to coalesce into action. Optimism is justified but must be tempered by the reality of the height of hurdles that lie ahead.
Tigers face the same battles in Indochina as they do elsewhere in their range.
Their forest habitat is raided for firewood and ravaged by logging companies for timber. They must compete with local hunters for deer and other prey. And they are in constant peril from poachers who supply tiger parts to the traditional medicine trade. Protected areas do exist, but their guards and wildlife managers lack training and equipment. Adding to the challenge, tigers do not recognize national boundaries and routinely travel between adjacent countries at will.