‘Plek’ onyx tiger tomcat on loan to UK after UK approves deal

A PLEK tomcat has been bought by the UK after it was accepted for the importation of an additional six tomcats from the USA, after the UK’s government approved a deal with the American company to import more tomcats.

The importation is a significant boost for the country’s tiger population, which has plummeted by about 90 per cent in the past 15 years due to a variety of factors including overhunting, poaching, illegal trade and poaching, WWF-UK’s global tiger programme manager Mark Evans said.

The PLEX tomcat is the second importation for the UK since the end of the Asian Tiger Reserve in 2009.

The first was in December 2011, when a four-year-old PLEk tomcat was imported from Vietnam to the UK.

The UK has been an early adopter of importations from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and China, as well as importing tiger cubs and kittens from countries like China, India, South Korea and Russia.

The Government will soon announce a plan to import another six PLECs.