Wildlife Alliance

For Immediate Release

ASEAN-WEN to Widen Investigation into Organized Wildlife Trafficking

February 1, 2008

(Bangkok, January 30)--The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) will support and help widen an investigation into yesterday's major seizure of 11 butchered tigers, leopards and clouded leopards, as well as 275 live pangolins from Khub Pung village of Tambon Nam Kham in Thailand, near the border with Laos. PeunPa confirms that the seizure was made possible due to cross border information sharing under the ASEAN-WEN umbrella, with the assistance of the ASEAN-WEN Support Program. Thailand's ASEAN-WEN Task Force will meet with international investigators this Friday to discuss next steps in their efforts to track down the traffickers.

The Royal Thai Navy's Khong River Coast Guard seized the huge load of pangolins from one truck, and the dead 6 tigers, 3 leopards and 2 clouded leopards from another truck at 3am yesterday. Most of the big cats had been cut in half and their organs removed. They were about to be loaded into boats headed for Laos, for delivery to customers from Vietnam and China. Southeast Asia is targeted by poachers and illegal wildlife traders for its rich biodiversity and ease of movement between countries. In 2006, Thailand took the initiative to set up the ASEAN-WEN to combat the growing menace of cross-border wildlife crime in the region. The ASEAN-WEN aims to create a strong law enforcement response against poachers and traders who operate across countries throughout Southeast Asia.

Wildlife Alliance, PeunPa (Thailand) and TRAFFIC have formed the ASEAN-WEN Support Program and are providing technical and financial assistance to ASEAN-WEN. The Support Program congratulates the Thai police agencies that worked together to make interdict this major seizure, which once again highlights the transnational nature of wildlife crime. "We now need to help authorities find out who was behind this and many other illegal cross border shipments of this region's endangered species," said Steve Galster, Director of Field Operations for partner organizations PeunPa and Wildlife Alliance.

According to Senior Programme Officer for TRAFFIC, Chris R. Shepherd, “The trade in endangered species across the Malaysian-Thailand border is a serious issue, involving large volumes of wildlife, and requires full cooperation of all enforcement agencies on both sides of the border”.

For more information please contact: Chris R Shepherd Senior Programme Officer TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Tel: +6(03) 7880 3940, +6-012-234-0790 Tassanee Vejpongsa Communications Officer PeunPa Foundation (A member of Wildlife Alliance) Tel: +66-2-204-2719

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Wildlife Alliance is an international conservation organization whose mission is to protect and preserve wildlife, forests and oceans for future generations. Our field operations, formerly carried out under the name WildAid, train and equip park rangers to fight crimes against nature, and prevent poaching and illegal habitat destruction in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Russia and the Western Pacific through collaboration with governments and communities. We improve the management of protected areas, support sustainable development initiatives, and empower countries to enforce transboundary wildlife regulations. For more information, please visit wildlifealliance.org.