- 6 minutes ago
- Asia
AFP
Forty tiger cub bodies have been found in a freezer at a Thai Buddhist temple accused of wildlife trafficking and animal abuse.
Police and wildlife officials started an operation on Monday to remove all the living tigers at the Tiger Temple.
Pictures from journalists at the scene posted to social media showed the 40 cubs lined up on the floor.
The site in Kanchanaburi is a popular tourist attraction but has been closed to the public since the raid.
"They must be of some value for the temple to keep them," Adisorn Nuchdamrong, from Thailand's Department of National Parks told Reuters news agency, referring to the tiger cubs. "But for what is beyond me."
Body parts from other animals were also found in a freezer, Tom Taylor, from Wildlife Friends Foundation, who was at the temple for the raid told the BBC.
REUTERS
A reporter from Khaosod said he had seen animal intestines in containers, a dead boar and other animal parts.
GETTY IMAGES
Mr Taylor said 40 living tigers had been confiscated so far by authorities out of the 137 at the temple.
The 1,000-person operation is due to continue all week.
Since 2001, authorities have been locked in a battle with the monks at the temple to confiscate the tigers after allegations of wildlife trafficking and abuse surfaced.
The monks deny any wrongdoing.
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