47 tigers die in Vietnam in 2 months

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - Authorities in Vietnam have reported a significant rise in tiger deaths, with 47 tigers dying in two separate parks in the past two months, according to Vietnam News.

In Bien Hoa city, the sixth largest city in Vietnam, 20 tigers and a black panther died under unclear circumstances at Vuon Xoai Tourist Park, said Lai Ngoc Dau, chief of the local Forest Protection Department.

Initial findings suggest pneumonia as the cause for two Bengal tigers, with authorities monitoring for a possible bird flu (H5N1 virus) outbreak.

Meanwhile, My Quynh Zoo in Long An province in southern Vietnam recorded 27 tiger and two lion deaths in August and September. The H5N1 virus was detected in a tiger sample from this location, Vietnam News reported.

Health authorities are reportedly working with local disease control centers to prevent further transmission.

There were around 100,000 wild tigers in Asia about a hundred years ago. Currently, only about 5,600 tigers inhabit the territory. The most significant population of tigers is in India, which now shelters half of the world’s remaining wild tigers, according to World Wildlife Fund data.