Ex-minister to face smuggling charge

At least five Thai baby elephants have recently been smuggled to Germany, a senior official at the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department revealed yesterday.

The transportation was carried out at the beginning of the year by people claming to represent officials "in high places", said Dulasit Sanitwongsa na Ayuthaya, a wildlife expert at the department.

In other incidents, 20 elephants, all younger than nine, were smuggled to China and another eight were shipped to Australia, Dulasit said.

He was visiting a wildlife breeding centre in Ratchaburi, where a five-year-old elephant was being cared for after it was rescued from smugglers.

Those involved with elephant smuggling included a former minister and many bureaucrats working for agencies concerned with wildlife issues, Dulasit said.

The department was taking legal action against them and contacting the countries in an effort to bring the smuggled beasts home under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, he added.

It is illegal to export young elephants and most came from centres in Ayutthaya province, Dulasit said.

The Nation

A couple of days ago they found a suitcase with 24 slow loris babies at the airport heading for Japan. The guy never showed up for his flight.

. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_loris
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