Alleged Bengal tiger poachers must remove their homes from national park
Yesterday, rangers at Khao Laem national park in Kanchanaburi ordered the removal of four homes, belonging to five people suspected of hunting and killing two endangered Bengal tigers last week. The suspects and their families, or anyone else currently living in the homes, must leave within 30 days. Those who don’t comply will be charged with violating the National Park Act by illegally occupying land inside a park. They risk a penalty of 4 to 20 years and a fine between 400,000 baht to 2,000,000 baht.
Rangers had received reports of hunters killing wild animals in the national park. They search the park and found a camp where tiger pelts were hung up to dry and tiger meat was still cooking on a grill. Four suspects later turned themselves in to police. More recent reports say there are now a total of five suspects. The suspects reportedly claimed the tigers had killed and eaten 20 cows belonging to themselves and local farmers. They said they then used the corpse of one of the cows to lure the tigers to them so they could kill it.
The head of the park said park officials found the two dead female tigers, one shotgun, five shotgun cartridges, two home-made rifles, 176 rounds of ammunition, two bottles containing gunpowder, one bag of gunpowder, one loaded shotgun, a parcel envelop, a pack of blood pressure pills, and 22 ping-pong bombs.
SOURCE: Phuket News
