In 2010, airport staff got suspicious at the X-ray image of a woman’s bag at Bangkok’s airport. When they opened said bag, they found a live tiger cub drugged and hidden among stuffed tiger toys.
The woman identified as Piyawan Palasarn and was looking at four years in prison and a $1,300 fine for two wildlife smuggling-related charges.
While officials were not completely sure, they inferred that the tiger cub was probably to be sold in the Iranian black market where exotic pets are very popular. Tiger populations throughout Asia “are critically threatened by poaching and trade to meet the international demand for tiger parts, tiger products, and live tigers.”
There have been proposals made to enforce sustained pressure and penalties on wildlife traffickers so that they think twice about sneaking in a living tiger in their check-in luggage.
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