Six people have been arrested at Bangkok’s international airport for trying to smuggle a red panda and almost a hundred other wild animals, including snakes, lizards and birds, according to Thai official sources.
The individuals, five men and a woman of Indian nationality, were detained last Monday when they were trying to leave Thailand towards Bombay and were intercepted at a security checkpoint, customs explained in a statement.
When searching their luggage, the authorities found a total of 87 wild animals, all alive and hidden, including a red panda, twenty snakes, seven monitor lizards and almost 30 chameleons, as well as dozens of birds, squirrels, primates, bats and other species.
Some of these animals are among the species protected by Thailand’s wildlife protection and preservation law, so individuals face up to ten years in prison for violating it.
The authorities have released photos of the capture, in which you can see the red panda – a species threatened with extinction – and other mammals inside baskets: a parrot, a toad, several lizards enclosed in plastic containers and snakes rolled up in cloth bags. .
Rich in biodiversity and with fairly flexible wildlife laws, Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers. The animals are traditionally sold in China and Vietnam, although they have become increasingly popular in other neighboring countries, such as India.