Cambodia to repopulate forests with tigers from abroad

Chhith Sam Ath, Cambodia Director of World Wildlife Fund, WWF, shows a booklet during a press conference, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Cambodia has unveiled a plan to reintroduce tigers from abroad into the dry forests of the country, where they have become virtually extinct due to poaching. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) (The Associated Press)

Suwanna Gauntlett, chief Executive Officer from Wildlife Alliance , gestures during a press conference, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Cambodia has unveiled a plan to reintroduce tigers from abroad into the dry forests of the country, where they have become virtually extinct due to poaching. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) (The Associated Press)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia is planning to reintroduce tigers from abroad into the dry forests of the country, where the big cat has become virtually extinct thanks to poaching.

The WWW conservation group said Wednesday that Cambodia's government will negotiate with the governments of India, Malaysia and Thailand to bring in at least seven to eight tigers and let them loose in the eastern forests of Mondulkiri province.

It said the plan was approved on March 23.

WWF said in a statement that the last tiger spotted in Cambodia was seen by a remote-controlled camera in 2007 in Mondulkiri.

It said that today, there is no longer any breeding populations of tigers left in Cambodia, and they are "therefore considered functionally extinct."