Also, Australian school gives student prize for Hitler costume.
View full sizeThai veterinarian Phimchanok Srongmongkul holds a baby tiger cub after feeding at the Wildlife Health Unit at the Department of National Parks in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday. Thai authorities found the baby tiger cub had been drugged and hidden among stuffed toy tigers in the suitcase of a woman flying from Bangkok to Iran, an official and a wildlife protection group said Friday.From The Associated Press:
Authorities at Bangkok's international airport found a baby tiger cub that had been drugged and hidden among stuffed toy tigers in the suitcase of a woman flying from Thailand to Iran, an official and a wildlife protection group said Friday.
The woman, a Thai national, had checked in for her flight and her oversized bag was sent for an X-ray which showed what appeared to be a live animal inside, according to TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring group.
The woman, identified as Piyawan Palasarn, 31, faces up to four years in prison and a 40,000 baht ($1,300) fine for two wildlife smuggling-related charges, police said.
She denied the luggage with the cub belonged to her and said another passenger had asked her to carry it for them, said Adisorn Noochdumrong, head of an international wildlife division at the conservation center.
The cub could have fetched about 100,000 baht ($3,200) on the black market in Iran, where it is popular to have exotic pets, Adisorn said. He said he did not know what the woman allegedly intended to do with this particular cub.
» Read the full story: Baby tiger found stuffed in bag at Thai airport [Associated Press]
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