Thai-Lao seizure of tigers, leopards et al
30 January, 2008
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Thai-Lao seizure of tigers, leopards et al
Bangkok, Thailand, Jan 30, 2008:
The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) will support and help widen an investigation into yesterday's major seizure of 11 butchered tigers, leopards and clouded leopards, as well as 275 live pangolins from Khub Pung village of Tambon Nam Kham in Thailand, near the border with Laos.
PeunPa confirms that the seizure was made possible due to cross border information sharing under the ASEAN-WEN umbrella, with the assistance of the ASEAN-WEN Support Program. Thailand's ASEAN-WEN Task Force will meet with international investigators this Friday to discuss next steps in their efforts to track down the traffickers.
The Royal Thai Navy's Khong River Coast Guard seized the huge load of pangolins from one truck, and the dead 6 tigers, 3 leopards and 2 clouded leopards from another truck at 3am yesterday. Most of the big cats had been cut in half and their organs removed. They were about to be loaded into boats headed for Laos, for delivery to customers from Vietnam and China.
Southeast Asia is targeted by poachers and illegal wildlife traders for its rich biodiversity and ease of movement between countries. In 2006, Thailand took the initiative to set up the ASEAN-WEN to combat the growing menace of cross-border wildlife crime in the region. The ASEAN-WEN aims to create a strong law enforcement response against poachers and traders who operate across countries throughout Southeast Asia.
Tiger evidence being destroyed by police
Wildlife Alliance, PeunPa (Thailand) and TRAFFIC have formed the ASEAN-WEN Support Program and are providing technical and financial assistance to ASEAN-WEN. The Support Program congratulates the Thai police agencies that worked together to make interdict this major seizure, which once again highlights the transnational nature of wildlife crime. "We now need to help authorities find out who was behind this and many other illegal cross border shipments of this region's endangered species," said Steve Galster, Director of Field Operations for partner organizations PeunPa and Wildlife Alliance.
According to Senior Programme Officer for TRAFFIC, Chris R. Shepherd, “The trade in endangered species across the Malaysian-Thailand border is a serious issue, involving large volumes of wildlife, and requires full cooperation of all enforcement agencies on both sides of the border”.
For more information please contact
Nicholas Sorenson
Director of Special Projects
Wildlife Alliance Headquarters - Washington D.C.
Tel: 1(202) 223-6350
sorenson@wildlifealliance.org
Chris R Shepherd
Senior Programme Officer
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
ctsea@po.jaring.my
Tel: +6(03) 7880 3940, +6-012-234-0790
Tassanee Vejpongsa
Communications Officer
PeunPa Foundation (A member of Wildlife Alliance)
tassanee.v@gmail.com
Tel: +66-2-204-2719
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