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Thai monk caught fleeing temple with tiger skins and fangs Thai monk caught fleeing temple with tiger skins
(about 1 hour later)
Thai officials say a monk has been intercepted trying to leave a controversial “tiger temple” with skins and fangs, in the latest discovery to fuel long-running accusations that the sanctuary is involved in the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife authorities in Thailand have found adult tiger skins and fangs during a raid on the “tiger temple” tourist attraction, and intercepted a monk who was trying to leave in a car that was carrying skins.
Dozens of police and park officials have been stationed at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple in western Kanchanaburi province since Monday after receiving a court order to remove more than 100 adult cats from the complex. Separately, officials said they would press charges against the Buddhist temple after 40 tiger cubs were found in a freezer on Wednesday.
For decades the temple has been a popular stop for tourists who pay a steep fee to pet and be photographed with the predators, which animal rights groups say are heavily sedated. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) moved in this week to relocate 137 tigers to government-run sanctuaries after repeated allegations of animal trafficking. The temple claims the tigers will be worse off.
“Today we found tiger skins and amulets in a car which was trying to leave a temple,” Adisorn Noochdumrong, deputy director of Thailand’s parks department, said. “Today we found tigers skins and amulets in a car which was trying to leave a temple,” said Adisorn Noochdumrong, the deputy director of the DNP. He said a search of several monks’ quarters yielded further body parts, bringing Thursday’s haul to two full-body tiger skins, about 10 fangs and dozens of pieces of tiger fur.
The discovery came after authorities found dozens of dead tiger cubs inside a freezer at the temple on Wednesday. Volunteers, staff and monks at Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple complex have long denied trafficking allegations. But international animal rights groups including WWF and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals applauded the raid.
Adisorn said a search of several monks’ quarters yielded further body parts, bringing Thursday’s haul to two full-body tiger skins, about 10 fangs and dozens of pieces of tiger fur. Police Col Bandith Meungsukhum told AFP the dead cubs would have been one or two days old. He said their DNA would be tested to see if they were related to tigers at the temple.
Animals rights groups and conservationists have long accused the temple of secretly acting as a tiger farm and making huge profits by selling animals and tiger parts on the illegal market for use in Chinese medicine. The temple claims it decided in 2010 to stop cremating the cubs and preserve them to “keep as proof against the allegations of selling cubs”.
Repeated efforts to shut down the temple over the years have been delayed and complicated by the fact that secular Thai authorities are often reluctant to intervene in the affairs of the clergy. Thailand is a central route for the illegal wildlife trade through south-east Asia, including for ivory, rhino horn and live animals. Tiger parts, including bones and penises, are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The temple has always denied trafficking allegations. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned the trade in tiger parts and products in 2007.
Officials said they have removed 84 tigers so far this week and are transferring the animals to nearby breeding centres. The raid is the culmination of a battle that has been going on for years between the government and the temple.
But police say no charges have been filed against the temple yet, with the case still under investigation. Thailand has an estimated 1,200-1,300 captive tigers.
Previous raids of the temple revealed that dozens of hornbills, jackals and Asian bears were also being kept at the sanctuary without proper permits.