Baby Tiger Found in Bag at Thai Airport
Talk about letting the cat out of the bag! Authorities at Bangkok’s International Airport discovered a baby tiger that had been drugged and hidden in a suitcase beside a stuffed toy tiger.
The owner of the suitcase was a Thai national who was traveling to Iran. She was stopped after checking in for her flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport because her bag was too heavy. Airport authorities sent for an X-ray, which revealed a tiger cub estimated to be about 3 months old inside.
The cub was sent to a wildlife conservation center in Bangkok.
“The cub arrived at our unit and was put under close supervision. He appeared exhausted, dehydrated and couldn’t walk, so we had to give him oxygen, water and lactation. We have monitored him closely. As of today, he looks better and can walk a little now,” says said Chaiyaporn Chareesaeng, head of the Wildlife Health Unit at the Department of National Parks’ Wildlife and Plant Conservation Center.
Piyawan Palasarn, aged 31, faces up to four years in prison and a 40,000 baht ($1,300) fine for two wildlife smuggling-related charges. Like any criminal worth his or her salt, she denied any wrong doing, claiming the offending luggage belonged to another passenger who requested that she transport it on the plane for them.
A DNA test will reveal whose bag is whose and this woman is in deep trouble as well she should be.
“…Had the animal passed the oversize baggage check and gone through four to five hours of travel, its chances of survival would have been slim,” said Nirath Nipanant, chief of the airport’s wildlife checkpoint.
The reality is that the cub could have been sold on Iran’s black market for about 100,000 baht ($3,200) where exotic animals are highly coveted as pets. This coupled with a loss of habitat and lack of control on poachers who sell their skins to medicinal and souvenir markets in China have decimated the number of wild tigers in Asia.
There are wildlife groups in Thailand lobbying for more stringent laws against animal trafficking.
One can only hope they can do more and literally let all the cats out of all the bags.
What do YOU think about this!
(Link)
By MDeeDubroff on 11-09-2010
