A four-month-old tiger cub, seized from wildlife traffickers in Bang Yai district of Nonthaburi province on Tuesday night, has begun to recover from her illnesses.
Hungry again: A forestry official from the Bungchawak Wildlife Management Development Centre in Suphan Buri feeds the four-month-old tiger cub, rescued from wildlife traffickers on Tuesday in Nonthaburi. The centre is nursing the cub back to health.
Surasak Anumethangkul, chief of Bungchawak Wildlife Management Development Center under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), said yesterday that the health condition of the cub is improving.
He said she has a little mucus and a cough remains but her gums, tongue and mouth are not pale.
The cub has been fed 6-10 ounces of formula, and her faeces prove she is in a healthy condition, he said.
On Thursday, the DNP delivered her in a weak state to the centre seeking help.
The cub had diarrhoea, feline distemper and ulcerative colitis when she was rescued by the authorities, he said.
She also had heavy amounts of mucus and sneezed often, while ticks were found throughout her body, he said.
On Tuesday night, three illegal wildlife traders were arrested while delivering the tiger cub to an undercover law enforcement agent in Bang Yai district for sale for 400,000 baht.
They were taken into custody at the car park of the Central Westgate mall in Nonthaburi's Bang Yai by police from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division.
Officials from the DNP also took part in the operation.
The men -- identified only as Pheeraphol, 23; Phornthiwa, 30; and Chatree, 41 -- were wanted on arrest warrants issued by the Criminal Court on April 5 on charges of illegal possession of protected wild animals and illegal trading in wildlife.
Their surnames were withheld by police as inquiries continue.
The sting followed the earlier arrest of Jirati, alias New, 42, an alleged major wildlife trader in the Central Plains, on Dec 28 last year.
The extended investigation led to the arrest on Feb 4 of his accomplice and alleged major wildlife trader in the South -- Manusee, alias Bang See, aged 23.