‘A cold but no fever’: Tiger cub seized from smugglers recovering well
A female tiger cub seized from illegal wildlife traders is recovering well at Buengchawak Wildlife Sanctuary and Nursery in Suphanburi province, say authorities.
Nicknamed “Nong Kwan”, the cub is suffering cold symptoms including a runny nose and occasional sniffles but no fever, the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department said in a Facebook post on Friday. However, her condition is improving rapidly.
“The cub is gaining strength and her tongue, gums and oral cavity have become pinkish,” said the post. “She drinks 6-10 ounces of kitten milk every 2-4 hours and her stools now have more mass than liquid. Nong Kwan is in good spirits and is curious about her surroundings at the nursery.”
The cub was seized by police of Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday, during a sting operation to catch Thais who had been selling wild animals via Facebook.
Posing as buyers, the so-called Green cops arranged a rendezvous with the illegal wildlife traders at Central WestGate mall in Nonthaburi just north of Bangkok.
There, they arrested three men and seized the four-month-old tiger cub from them.
Police said the suspects confessed one of them had smuggled the cub from Laos over a natural border for the two other suspects to sell online for 400,000 baht.
The department handed the cub to Buengchawak Wildlife Sanctuary to nurse it back to health. Its DNA will be checked to determine its origins before taking appropriate measures for its rehabilitation.
