ABSTRACT
Two contiguous National Protected Areas (NPAs), Nam Et and Phou Louey (NEPL NPA), covering almost 595,000 hectares of mountainous terrain in northern Lao PDR are managed as a single unit. The NEPL NPA contains an outstanding diversity of carnivores and harbours one of the most important tiger populations remaining in Indochina. The landscape within the NEPL NPA has a long history of human settlement. Subsistence activities are the main source of livelihood for most families in the area, and livestock rearing and selling is their principal source of income. In the last decade, however, hunting and trading of wildlife has increased to unsustainable levels. Of extreme concern is the effect that a high off-take of tiger prey is having on the population of this large carnivore. The revitalization of the tiger population in NEPL NPA is part of a national strategy to recover the species in the country (GoL, 2010). At the turn of the century, the NEPL management team requested the assistance and expertise of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to help the government address the threats to the tiger.
