An animal farm owner in Chachoengsao has been charged for allegedly owning an endangered animal after a tiger cub was spotted roaming around a community in Bang Pakong district.
Atthapol Charoenchansa, director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, ordered the DNP's Yiew Dong task force and 1362 special task force to investigate the case.
The suspect, who was arrested, was identified as Mr Yothin (surname withheld), owner of an animal farm in the province's Bang Khla district.
Mr Atthapol said task force officers discovered that a tiger cub belonging to the suspect had roamed the community, not a liger cub as previously claimed.
In addition, they found a lion cub aged between two to three months at the suspect's farm, he said, adding it was brought from another farm in Nakhon Pathom without informing the authorities.
The investigation followed the capture of a female tiger cub aged between five and six months old after it was spotted in a residential area in tambon Bang Wua in Chachoengsao's Bang Pakong district on Thursday. The cub was sent to Bang Pakong police station after being captured.
Mr Yothin initially claimed he was the owner of a liger cub whose body was painted to look like a tiger cub for a film shoot. However, he admitted on Saturday that it was actually a tiger cub.
The suspect has been charged with letting loose a protected wild animal and possessing a protected wild animal and a controlled wild animal. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 baht, Mr Atthapol said.
The owner of the farm in Nakhon Pathom has also been charged with transferring a lion cub without authorisation, he said. The tiger cub has been sent to the Bueng Chawak Wildlife Development Centre in Suphan Buri, he said.