Traffickers keep six tigers on rooftop

Published on 10/09/2012 20:17

Six illegally raised tigers have been discovered living on the roof of an apartment building on Bangkok’s outskirts after
police broke up a larger tiger-trafficking ring in Thailand.

Environmental police acting on a tip found four adult and two juvenile tigers on a rusty caged compound on the roof-top of a four-story block in Pathum Thani province yesterday.

Police said 28-year-old Surasak Bunthienthong told them he owned the animals but was authorised to raise only two of them.

He has been initially charged with illegal possession of protected wild animals.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Adtapon Sudsai said an investigation showed the apartment was a transit space for tiger trading in Thailand, where tigers are
illegally sold for their skin, fangs and organs used in medicines.
Captain Montri Neepasee added that the other occupants of the flats had apparently ignored the presence of the big cats on the roof.

“The renters are mostly factory workers and they do not seem to care about environmental issues,” he said.

Thailand, a hub of international smuggling, is one of
just 13 countries hosting tiger populations.