Cambodian officials confiscate rare bears, tigers
© 2000 Reuters Limited
October 23, 2000
PHNOM PENH - Cambodian wildlife officials have rescued seven Indochinese tigers and two Malayan sun bears in two sting operations in the capital Phnom Penh, officials said on Sunday.
"I was told that we just broke one of the three major wildlife selling markets here in Phnom Penh," said Patrick Lyng, Forest Crimes Unit adviser.
"I hope we're sending a very serious message to traffickers of wildlife that we're going to seize (animals) and they're going to lose money and they're going to be fined."
Endangered, Indochinese tigers are worth as much as $3,500 on the wildlife trade circuit, while sun bears command about $2,000, officials said.
In a sting operation on Saturday, Cambodian officials raided a Phnom Penh house and confiscated one adult and one young sun bear, a one-year-old tiger and two seven-week-old tigers, Lyng said.
Officials confiscated four tigers on Thursday in the first sting operation of its kind in Cambodia.
Two people were arrested on Thursday and at least one was arrested on Saturday, Lyng said.
The maximum penalty for transporting or selling wildlife and wildlife products is a fine of one million riel ($263).
Officials said they did not know if the seized animals had been captured in the wild or bred in captivity.
All of the animals have been transported to Phnom Tamao Zoological Gardens and Wildlife Rescue Centre, where they will be quarantined for 60 days.
But wildlife protection officer Chheang Dany said the centre, which already houses three adult Indochinese tigers and nine sun bears, does not have enough room to accommodate the confiscated tigers or a large enough food budget to properly feed either species.
"With food we have a problem because the government gives very limited money for food for the animals in the zoo, and we don't have any additional funds for these confiscated animals," he said.
"We will try to ask someone for help... We need a donor who would like to contribute to the care of these animals."