Cambodia's $43M tiger reintroduction plan spurs fear, skepticism

Pan Sok still remembers his relative screaming as a tiger dragged him away one night, deep in the Cambodian rainforest where they were tapping resin. Decades later, that memory fuels his fear of a government plan to reintroduce the big cats. Cambodia's last confirmed tiger sighting was in 2007, and conservationists now propose importing several from India's population of over 3,600 tigers to the Cardamom Mountains—a protected expanse of lush rainforest spanning over one million hectares. The $43 million initiative aims to restore an iconic apex predator, protect landscapes, and boost tourism. But for villagers like Pan Sok, the trauma is raw: “I saw the tiger take him with my own eyes,” he said. “He was screaming but we couldn’t help him.”

While residents worry for their safety, biologists raise a different alarm: the forests have been stripped of prey due to poaching and habitat loss, meaning the imported tigers may simply starve. The plan, which would be one of the world's most ambitious carnivore reintroductions, faces deep skepticism. Jimmy Borah of Indian environmental group Aaranyak, a consultant to the Cambodian government, argues that reintroducing tigers could help protect Cambodia’s landscapes and restore ecological balance. However, the technical and social hurdles remain enormous—from securing enough prey to ensuring community support. If successful, it could become a landmark case for large predator restoration in Southeast Asia; if not, it risks both ecological failure and human tragedy.