Tigers cleared, temple faces legal action (SUNDAY UPDATE)

With all 137 tigers removed, police and wildlife authorities will begin the task of gathering evidence that they believe could link Wat Pa Luang Ta Maha Bua to the worldwide illegal animal trade.

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Sunday morning update

All tigers cleared from temple, legal action to follow

Online Reporters

KANCHANABURI: "Sai Fah 2" was the last tiger to be tranquillised before the 300-kilogramme male cat and eight others were moved out of the Tiger Temple on Saturday.

The move brought to an end a five-day mission to relocate 137 big cats from a site that had become a temple of doom for wildlife. Now authorities will begin the even harder task of gathering evidence that they believe could link Wat Pa Luang Ta Maha Bua to the worldwide illegal animal trade.

The job took on a new urgency this week as the rescue operation proceeded, after officials discovered more than live tigers at the lucrative tourist attraction in Sai Yok district. Dead tiger cubs, animal parts and amulets were also part of the grim haul, suggesting a thriving trade in trafficked species.

Tuanjai Noochdamrong, the Wildlife Conservation Office director, declared the transfer operation over and said legal action against the temple and the people involved was next.

That means police are taking the lead from now on, with assistance from the National Parks and Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, to look into possible links between the temple and wildlife traffickers.

From Monday to Friday this week, authorities found 40 tiger cub carcasses, six hornbills, 27 sheets of processed wood, including teak, two tiger pelts and hundreds of ta krut talismans made from tiger parts, among others.

The stunning discoveries continued on Saturday when authorities found a stuffed tiger buffalo, a stuffed Asian golden cat and a stuffed leopard. The skeletons of a dead Asian golden cat and a dead leopard were also seized in the compound.

Some of the discoveries were made near the residence of the temple's abbot, Phra Sutthi Sarathera, or Luang Ta Chan. The monk left the temple for Bangkok last Sunday and nobody knows where he is now.

Besides facing criminal action, the temple could lose its licence to operate a zoo. The licence was authorised by the department for the Luang Ta Maha Bua Foundation, not the temple itself.

Mrs Tuanjai cautioned that the zoo licence and the alleged misdeeds at the temple were separate legal issues. But she said that if any offenders at the temple turned out to also be officials of the foundation, the licence could be revoked.

Saturday morning update

Cops probe Tiger Temple links to global network

Dept slammed for not revoking zoo licence

Piyarach Chongcharoen

The large number of dead tiger cubs seized from the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province has prompted a new investigation into possible links with a transnational wildlife trafficking network.

Five suspects have been charged with illegal wildlife possession. However, the national parks and wildlife department said it will not revoke the zoo licence recently issued to the temple.

"Are all the carcasses linked with domestic or transnational wildlife trade groups?" asked national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, after the shocking discovery of dead tigers and items made from their carcasses over the past two days.

His deputy, Pol Gen Chaloemkiat Siworakhan, has been assigned to look for any links and his team will begin work immediately as police already have information on wildlife trafficking routes, said the police chief.

"This should not be a complicated case," Pol Gen Chakthip said, expecting that investigators will soon bring the wrongdoers to justice. Among the evidence that could implicate the temple with the tiger trade are an assortment of tiger-related products. Plastic bottles with labels advertising them as supplementary food with "tiger power" were found during the authorities' search of the temple, officials said.

Yesterday, authorities found two more tigers which were not on the temple's original list, bringing the total number of tigers in the temple's possession to 149.

Wildlife officials continue to remove tigers from the temple to wildlife breeding areas in Ratchaburi. More than 119 have been removed over five days.

Meanwhile, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said it will not revoke the zoo licence issued to the temple in April, saying that charges of illegal wildlife possession were laid against the temple, not the company established to manage the zoo.

Thanya Nethithammakul, the department's chief, said that the Tiger Temple Co, set up by the temple's foundation to organise the zoo, was not found to be involved with the illegal wildlife carcasses found in the temple.

"We can't revoke the zoo's licence as the way it was obtained is legal. The methods by which it obtained the licence complied with the law. We see no reason to revoke it," he said. The zoo licence will be valid until April, 18, 2021.

However, he stressed that the department will closely monitor the company's zoo operation, ensuring that all animals living in the zoo are authorised by the department.

Friday's story

30 more dead cubs found

Tiger bone amulets in temple van seized

Piyarach Chongcharoen

As the relocation of Bengal tigers from the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi continues, wildlife authorities on Thursday discovered the carcasses of 30 more tiger cubs, two tiger pelts and a large number of talismans made from tiger carcasses.

The findings came one day after authorities found the carcasses of 40 tiger cubs in a freezer at Wat Pa Luang Ta Maha Bua in Sai Yok district, the infamous temple that has been a popular stop for tourists who pay a steep fee to pet the predators.

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 black market.

Repeated efforts to shut down the temple have been delayed and complicated by the fact that secular Thai authorities are often reluctant to intervene in the affairs of the clergy.

The temple has always denied trafficking allegations.

The new carcasses were preserved in huge glass jars seized during searches conducted in the living quarters of temple abbot Phra Sutthi Sarathera, alias Luang Ta Chan, and of the temple's workers, police said.

The searches came after wildlife authorities stumbled upon and confiscated a cache of items made mainly from tiger carcasses including two large pelts, 1,045 ta krut talismans made of pelts, nine fangs, 33 small pieces of skin, 65 Luang Ta Maha Bua medallions, 13 Luang Ta Chan medallions and two tiger-fang ta krut talismans.

These products were found in a pickup truck that was about to leave the temple Thursday afternoon, police said, adding that more similar items were found during additional searches.

Two laymen and a monk were in the truck when authorities spotted it leaving the temple, police said.

Tuanjai Noochdamrong, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the office initially filed charges of illegal possession of carcasses of protected wild animals against the temple.

Police were investigating why the wild animal carcasses had been stored at the temple and if they were intended for illegal trade, said Ms Tuanjai.

The carcass of a tiger aged between one to two months is normally worth 100,000 baht in some countries where it is turned into talismans or used in Chinese traditional medicine, she said.

Some of the people at the temple insisted they had nothing to do with the tiger cub carcasses, she said.

More than 20 tiger cubs, aged between one to two months, that had previously been used to attract tourists to the temple had disappeared, she said, adding that security officials continue to search for them.

As of Thursday, the team handling the relocation of the remaining 137 Bengal tigers had successfully transferred 64.

The team expects to complete all the transfers by tomorrow.

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