Thailand saves pangolins bound for China restaurants

Yahoo News 10 Nov 07;

Thai Customs officers said Saturday they have rescued more than 100 pangolins and arrested three men attempting to smuggle the endangered animals to China, where they were destined for the cooking pot.

Customs officers Friday intercepted three pick-up trucks of pangolins, or scaly anteaters, which were to be smuggled across Laos to southwest China.

The pangolins, worth an estimated one million baht (29,400 dollars), were trapped in the Indonesian jungle and smuggled via Malaysia and southern Thailand.

"We investigated and found out that those pangolins are from Indonesia," Rakop Srisupaat, director of southern region Customs, told AFP by telephone.

All trade in Asian pangolins has been illegal since 2000. Their meat is regarded as a delicacy in China and their scales are believed to cure a wide range of ailments.

Rakop said the three suspects had declined to give details of who owned the pangolins but admitted they were hired to transport the scaly mammals.

They were charged with two counts of possessing and smuggling endangered wildlife, which carry a maximum 10 years in prison.

"I have instructed my legal officials to seriously prosecute them as their action is against the morals of Thai people," he said.

"The meat is for the cooking pot for restaurants and the scales are crushed for use in traditional Chinese medicine," he explained.

The pangolins, which were all alive despite being hidden under layers of coconuts, would be handed over to the Royal Forest Department to be nursed back to health before being released into an appropriate habitat in Thailand, he said.