DSI joins hunt for temple's three missing tigers
Representatives of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department yesterday submitted more documents for the Department of Special Investigation (DSI)'s probe into the alleged disappearance of three Bengali tigers at Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua, a
The documents were submitted by veterinarian Somchai Wisetmongkolchai, who was in charge of the tigers impounded by the Royal Forestry Department and left under the temple’s care pending relocation, said Pol Major Woranan Srilum, chief of the DSI Special Cases Management Centre.
Somchai had previously asked the agency to probe this case but the DSI thought it wasn’t within the frame of a special case, and it set out initially just to investigate facts for it, Woranan explained.
Somchai claimed three tigers were missing and evidence suggested involvement of temple insiders.
The department is to remove the temple’s 146 tigers tomorrow. On April 3, it relocated six bears from the temple to government facilities.
Meanwhile, the vice president of the Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua Foundation yesterday revealed that he and lawyer Saiyud Pengboonchu submitted a letter to Adisorn Nuchdamrong, deputy director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, to notify him that the department must pay expenses for the care of the tigers before it can remove them from the temple.
Citing the department’s order issued on April 16 that it had impounded the tigers and left them in the temple's care, he said the temple and the foundation would insist that the department pay all expenses, including food, vaccines, caretakers’ salary and milk for the tiger cubs. Those expenses amount to around Bt10,000 per tiger per month. The officials expect to transfer the tigers to government-run facilities before Friday.
