Thai authorities have discovered a severed tiger head during an operation at a fake zoo on the border with Laos, which they suspect of participating in illegal wildlife trafficking.
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Authorities seized five live tigers at Mukda Tiger Park and Farm, along with body parts of other animals.
The live animals were placed in a wildlife sanctuary.
Located in Mukdahan province (northeast), Mukda Tiger Park and Farm announced the birth of six lion cubs five years ago, but DNA tests showed that none of the five tigers found, nor the decapitated beast. , was not related to other animals in the park.
These results suggest that this false zoo was used as a place of retention for wild animals smuggled into Laos and Vietnam.
"
They have had a zoo license since 2012 but have claimed that their facilities are not ready to open,
" said an official from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Fauna and Flora.
"Animal laundering"
“
We have received information from various international agencies about the strange activities carried out by this zoo,
” he said.
Authorities are looking for the owner of the zoo, who was not present during the operation Monday, to question him, according to the official.
Read also: Trafficking in wild animals: "Tens of thousands of species are targeted"
The zoo owned 28 tigers in 2013, but their numbers jumped to 50 five years later, according to environmental advocacy group Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.
In 2020, their number was reduced to 25.
"
You can see it as animal laundering
," said Edwin Wiek, founder of the NGO.
"
Mukda is basically a place where we keep these tigers until they are sold to Chinese customers in Laos
."
"
The profit that can be made from these tigers by selling them can be between 5,000 and 6,600 dollars per tiger
."
Strong demand for tiger skins and organs in China and Vietnam is fueling poaching.
The parts of the body are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The number of tigers in the world has dropped from around 100,000 a century ago to less than 4,000 today.
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