Tigers killed by canine distemper virus, not bird fluA poster with hygiene instructions, telling staff to wash their hands with alcohol gel, outside a cage at one of the tiger zoos in Chiang Mai where the mass deaths occurred. Somchuan Ratanamungklanon, director-general of the Department of Livestock Development, said the lab tests showed the tigers died from canine distemper, which is a viral disease. He also said the tigers did not die from bird flu, as had earlier been speculated. In the wake of the mass deaths, the carcasses were either incinerated or buried to contain the disease. Prof Yong Poovorawan, of the Centre for Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday of a previous case of mass tiger deaths in 2004.

Source: Bangkok Post February 24, 2026 09:45 UTC