Tigers carcasses in temple freeze

THAI wildlife authorities found 40 tiger cub carcasses in a freezer in Thailand’s infamous Tiger Temple Wednesday, media report said pointing to suspected links with wildlife traffickers’ gang in abusing the animals. The Thai government raid in the temple discovered the tiger parts largely used in traditional Chinese medicine. What appears to be quite intriguing is the involvement of the temple in such trafficking, which however defended the recovery of young tiger parts saying that they have always reported death of grown up tiger but not cubs as supposed to be insignificant.
The temple is located at a tourist spot; it hoards tigers as special attraction and also allow shooting for tourists amusement. Trafficking was taking place under cover. Government inspectors have moved out 61 live tigers so far from the temple while as many others are still there. In fact the Thai authorities were trying to bring the country’s tiger population under state control over the past decade but always facing resistance from powerful quarters now suspected behind the trafficking. The country is hub for illegal trafficking of wildlife and forest products to China and the West.
This discovery has not only highlighted the plight of tigers, elephants and other exotic birds in Thailand. It has highlighted the precarious condition in many other countries where poachers and smugglers are working under protection of powerful persons defying all restrictions. Corruption and greed for money are organizing the gangs to kill animals and make illegal fortune selling ivory and other body parts in lucrative global markets. Ivory are very expensive and rich people all over the world buy it as a symbol of luxury highlighting their life style at whatever cost.
Not only the Thai authorities are fighting against powerful poachers and smugglers to save the rare species; in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh poachers are also active in killing tigers and smuggling their skins and bones out of the country. The African jungles and forest in Southeast Asia are fertile ground of poaching despite national and international ban to stop killing of tigers, elephants and such other animals as their number is phenomenally declining all over the world. They may face extinction very soon if the killing does not stop.
 As we know that poaching and human encroachment are the biggest threat to wildlife and particularly when the global tiger stock now dwindling below one lakh. But they can’t be stopped without total commitment of the state to stop it. Tiger convention in Russia has called for drastic measures to save the endangered animal but as it appears they are not safe anywhere. This is a multi-billion dollar trade running under the shelter of powerful quarters. The breaking of the news from Thailand shows this reality once again and it must work as eye opener to all.