To reverse a well-known statement by Johan Cruyff: Every advantage has its disadvantage. In the past two years, 46.000 exotic animals have been seized from traders, sellers and poachers, more than double the number of the previous two years.
That's great, but now Thailand is facing the problem: what to do with all those animals? Because the shelter options are limited, the care costs a lot of money and returning them to nature is not an option in many cases.
These include elephants, tigers, bears, monkeys. "The more we confiscate, the more animals we have to care for," said Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
That burden was underlined last October when 24 malnourished tiger cubs were rescued from the back of a smuggler's truck. The animals were housed at the Khao Pratubchang Wildlife Breeding Center in Ratchaburi. But there they have to be cared for XNUMX hours a day and they need special food and medicines.
“It's like having a child – there are so many details to pay attention to,” said Sathit Pinkul, head of the centre. 'You always have to be around when they're hungry. We have become their personal assistant.'
Animal shelters are almost full all over the country
The center is home to 45 other tigers, 10 panthers and 13 small cats, such as the fishing cat en Asian golden cat, which are slightly larger than the house cat but much wilder. Animal shelters elsewhere in the country are also almost full. A shelter near Bangkok houses more than 400 screeching monkeys, a shelter in Chon Buri 99 bears (one is called Airport, because the one on Suvarnabhumi was rescued from a passenger's suitcase).
Thai law requires those animals to be held as evidence until legal proceedings are completed or five years if no suspect has been arrested. Some animals can be returned to the wild, such as common monkeys, snakes and pangolins (the meat of which is highly sought after in China).
But the tiger cubs will have to remain in captivity until their death. 'I've attended many international meetings, but I've never heard of success in releasing a tiger back into the wild. They hardly have a predatory instinct,' says Sathit. Placing them in zoos is also not an option, because few zoos are interested and euthanasia is not being considered.
Feeding the animals in all shelters together costs the government about 1,7 million baht per month. The Department of National Parks has set up a fund to have some extra money for care. It is fueled by donations from celebrities and wealthy Thais.
(Source: bangkok mail, March 2, 2013)
The 3th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held in Bangkok from March 14 to 16.