Police and wildlife officers have impounded several hundred rare wild animals at a private animal shelter in Kaeng Khoi district of Saraburi province. Yuttasak Suthinan, the shelter's owner, was charged with operating a zoo and possessing wildlife without permission. Photos by Apichit Jinakul.
Police and wildlife officers have impounded several hundred rare wild animals at a private animal shelter in Kaeng Khoi district of Saraburi province. Yuttasak Suthinan, the shelter's owner, was charged with operating a zoo and possessing wildlife without permission. Photos by Apichit Jinakul.
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This orangutan was among several hundred rare animals at the compound.
A wildlife officer confirmed authorities raided the site in 2003 and seized wild animals. The raid was the result of an expanded probe into the arrest of a suspected tiger meat trader in Bangkok's Klong Sam Wa district last month.
These lions were among the wild animals seized from a 100-rai private shelter in Saraburi's Kaeng Khoi district.
Around 100 officers from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division and the National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Department raided the compound on Thursday morning.
Animals including white lions, tigers, panthers, red pandas, camels, orangutans and marmosets were found at the site. They are estimated to have a total value of around 200 million baht.
Authorities believe many of the animals were imported from countries including South Africa and Canada. Several species of bird and monkeys native to Thailand were also found.
The owner of the raided shelter insisted that he had obtained animals legally and planned to turn the site into a zoo. However, he failed to produce documents to prove his claims.
A total of 51 species of wild and rare creatures were impounded from the site, including these two marmosets.
