Wildlife Alliance

For Immediate Release

Thai Authorities Raid Illegal Private Zoo at Popular Resort

August 26, 2008 

August 24, 2008 (Chumphon) —Investigation findings led Thai officials, hot on the trail of illegal wildlife traders, to a family-oriented tourist resort in Chumphon Province about 460 km south of Bangkok.

Pol. Col. Subsuk Chavalviwat, Deputy Commander of the Thai Nature Crime Police and Nisit Yomsiri, head of wildlife check-points and representative from Wildlife Friends of Thailand raided the suspected Kangpheka Resort where they discovered 22 animals, all protected species under Thai Law.

Animals seized at the popular resort included two camels and one endangered orangutan, both species not found in the wild in Thailand. These two species lacked official permits for import into the country. 

Additional confiscated animals included a sun bear, a dusky langur and two white-handed gibbons, all of which are found in Thailand’s forests, but are illegal to capture and sell.

Today’s confiscation follows a number of similar enforcement actions by various Thai agencies over the past year.
 
PeunPa Foundation, a Bangkok-based conservation organization and member of Wildlife Alliance, congratulates Thailand’s agencies for their stepped up enforcement against wildlife crime and encourages them to follow up with investigations into major crime syndicates behind the scenes.

In response to the rising number of wildlife smuggling cases in the region, authorities from all ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have launched the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network to step up their domestic and cross-border efforts to stop illegal wildlife trade.

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Wildlife Alliance is an international conservation organization whose mission is to protect and preserve wildlife, forests and oceans for future generations. Our field operations, formerly carried out under the name WildAid, train and equip park rangers to fight crimes against nature, and prevent poaching and illegal habitat destruction in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Russia and the Western Pacific through collaboration with governments and communities. We improve the management of protected areas, support sustainable development initiatives, and empower countries to enforce transboundary wildlife regulations. For more information, please visit wildlifealliance.org.