Recently, while on patrol in Thailand’s Aranyaprathet District region, rangers from Thailand’s 12th Ranger Forces Regiment saw two men unloading blue mesh bags from a pickup truck parked on a rural road close to the Cambodian border. When they attempted to investigate further, the men fled in the truck, leading to a chase that ultimately ended in their arrest. CBS reports. Inside the truck, the rangers found something that those of us who live in the US probably don’t see every day: 81 long-tailed macaques, as well as a bunch of meth.
Although it appears that the meth was stored separately from the monkeys and was likely intended for human use and not for macaque consumption, the rangers arrested the two men anyway. The suspects are now charged with illegally possessing and trafficking protected wildlife, and with possessing and consuming illegal drugs. The good news is that while the people who put monkeys in small bags and smuggle them illegally into other countries aren’t exactly known for taking great care of the animals they capture, the report makes no mention of any dead macaques, so it sounds like they were all found alive, and they are now reportedly being cared for by a nearby wildlife rescue center.
Those weren’t the only monkeys the 12th Ranger Forces Regiment rescued that day, either. Earlier that same day, while on patrol in the Khlong Hat district, they responded to “unusual animal noises” coming from a sugar cane field, and upon investigation found ten plastic baskets. In the baskets they discovered 62 macaques, wrapped in mesh bags. Although their health was reportedly not doing well, they were also transferred to the same wildlife sanctuary, bringing the total number of rescued monkeys to 143: 74 males and 69 females.
Wildlife smuggling
Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell highly prized endangered species on the lucrative black market in China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
…Last year, Thailand sent nearly 1,000 critically endangered lemurs and turtles back to their homes in Madagascar, following both countries’ largest operation against the illegal wildlife trade.
In June, Indian customs officials seized nearly 100 animals, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums, from a passenger arriving from Thailand. Wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, which combats wildlife smuggling, said at the time that more than 7,000 animals, dead and alive, had been seized along the Thailand-India air route in the past three-and-a-half years.
According to CNNAnother seizure at a Thai airport last year involved a red panda and a cotton tamarin monkey, along with 85 other animals. And while I don’t want to distract from the seriousness of animal cruelty or trafficking, since this post has been a bit of a downer, I feel obligated to point out that the CNN article contains some really cute photos of some of the rescued animals. Here we go. That’s one way to go out on a less depressing note. Click on the link to see the adorable rescued animals.
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