Pair Nabbed With Tiger Cub

Pair nabbed with tiger cub

By Sutthipong Settharangsi

The Nation

Chaiyaphum

CHAIYAPHUM: -- Two alleged members of a tiger trading gang were arrested yesterday at a checkpoint in Chaiyaphum's Ban Khwao district while taking a twomonthold tiger cub to a customer in southern Thailand.

Police at the checkpoint on ChaiyaphimBan Khwao Road stopped a black pickup in which the two men - Sawaeng Nanoi, 35, and Jamnong Srijan, 59 - were travelling. A search of the car found the 10kg cub hidden in a plastic box.

The pair reportedly confessed to police they had brought the cub from Laos and were on the way to deliver it to a customer in the South. They also showed police a bank transfer receipt of Bt150,000 wired to their Nong Khaibased account for the young tiger.

Police initially charged the men with illegal possession of protected wildlife and smuggling an endangered animal with intent to sell it.

The seized tiger cub was sent to Phu Khiew Wildlife Reserve as police feared the "exhausted" animal might die.

Chaiyaphum police chief Pol MajGeneral Sathit Tachayapop ordered investigators to find influential figures backing the wildlife trade. They believe other people must have helped get the tiger cub through the border checkpoint in Nong Khai.

-- The Nation 2010-04-07

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