SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GR4DU.4TE SHOOL OF THE UNI\'ERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Sun Hean · 2000
i\\BSTRAC’i Following decades of political instability, Cambodia is currently undergoing rapid development and changes in land use.Although the government made important progress protecting biodiversity during the 199&s, more accurate information is urgently needed to develop a comprehensive, landscape scale tiger conservation plan. The purpose of this study was to:(1) review the brief history of biodiversity conservation in Cambodia (2) determine tiger distribution and status and (3) study the role of wildlife trade and hunting in the long term protection of this species. Information on tiger distribution, abundance and the role of hunters in wildlife trade was obtained through interviews with local hunters. I used GIS and S.4S to analyze tiger distribution in relation to prey distribution, forest cover type, protected areas, forest concessions and human population centers. Trade in tiger products was studied u in,0 wildlife dealer interviews and investigations on the distribution, routes, and economics of internal and international trade. I found that tigers are still widely distributed in the forests of Cambodia and the 2 metapopulations is one of the largest in Southeast Asia. However, only 26 % of tiger