Authorities charged three monks at the Tiger Temple yesterday after they were caught trying to smuggle tiger skins and amulets made of tiger parts out of the temple in a pickup truck.
Officials searched the Isuzu pickup truck while it was being driven out of the temple yesterday, and the discovery of the skins and amulets may point to an even more prolific business than originally thought. They found the monks trying to smuggle out two tiger pelts, 33 small pieces of tiger skin, and a thousand amulets made from tiger skins or fangs, according to Matichon.
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The two temple devotees and a monk found in the pickup truck, as well as the two monks who helped load the truck, were charged under wildlife laws.
Authorities also found 20 glass jars containing baby tigers and tiger organs in a “laboratory” in the temple, reinforcing suspicion it was making folk medicine.
“The jars have labels, so I think they’ve made medicine here,” said Adisorn Nuchdamrong, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, who has been overseeing the raid to remove the temple’s tigers and search its premises.
Tiger parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine, a multi-million dollar business that has driven tigers in the wild to the brink of extinction and fueled the rearing of tigers in parts of Asia, especially in China.
“We will discover more as we search on,” Adisorn told Reuters.
The local media reported that officials also found a sun bear in the temple and endangered species including including a hornbill and a wild cattle.
Representatives of the temple were not available for comment.
Story: Reuters
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