Wildlife officials reveal remains of just one of the 86 animals that have died since they were freed from notorious Thai nature reserve
Workers wore protective suits to remove body parts of a carcass preserved in a barrel of formaldehyde – after dozens of tigers slowly died from Laryngeal tongue paralysis at the Khao Prathap Chang Wildlife Sanctuary.
Thai authorities confiscated 147 animals from the Tiger Temple west of Bangkok after allegations of animal trafficking.
During the raid, they found dead cubs preserved in the freezer, and others stuffed into jars.
The tigers, which have been dropping dead since they were rescued in 2016, were given an autopsy before their body parts and organs were preserved as evidence.
Spreading the remains on a white tarpaulin using metal hooks, wildlife officials will give the tiger a proper burial at the government-run sanctuary, according to local media.
Visitors to the notorious temple took selfies with tigers and bottle-fed cubs, but the tourist destination became the centre of controversy when it emerged the owners were selling tiger parts on the black market and allegedly drugging the big cats.
Years on, more than half of the confiscated tigers have slowly died after becoming weak from the stress of living in captivity, with their condition had steadily deteriorated from their diagnosis to their death, The Thaiger reported.
Because the tigers had been inbred and lived only in captivity, their immune system was weakened, leaving them unable to fight the viral disease.
The DNA of all 147 confiscated tigers could be traced to six tigers who were the original breeding stock, said Patarapol, head of the department’s Wildlife Health Management Division.
Police found tiger skins and teeth and at least 1,500 amulets made from tiger bones when they raided the Buddhist temple, as well as 60 cub carcasses stuffed in freezers and in formaldehyde in jars.
Some had allegedly been dead more than five years.
Visitors to the temple took selfies with tigers and bottle-fed cubs, but the tourist destination became the centre of controversy when it emerged the owners were selling tiger parts
Tiger parts, such as ground bones, are popular as traditional medicine in Asia. Tiger hides can sell for tens of thousands of dollars in China.
Wildlife activists accused the temple’s monks of illegally breeding tigers, while some visitors said the animals appeared drugged. The temple denied the accusations.
A monk allegedly attempted to escape the temple during the raid, driving a truck with hundreds of vials of tiger skin and teeth, which were hidden in a suitcase.
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