Two males were arrested yesterday in the central province of Suphan Buri for trafficking protected animals. The authorities seized over a hundred carcasses of monitor lizards and turtles, making the biggest number on record.
Authorities from the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division, or Greencop, and U-Thong Police Station had been notified that a home proprietor, later recognized as seventy three year outdated Mon Nerajatee, was illegally disassembling and trading protected water displays and turtles.
The authorities raided Mon’s home in the U-Thong district of Supha Buri yesterday and found five of his employees disassembling carcasses of water displays in the house. Mon and the carcass buyer, 67 year previous Prasit Lekphet, had been additionally current.
During the raid, 32 living water screens, 59 monitor lizard carcasses, and 28 turtle carcasses were seized, along with disassembling gear similar to knives, axes, and hammers.
Water screens, also referred to as Asian water screens, are on the wildlife safety record under the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act. The turtles that had been seized were snail-eating turtles, black marsh turtles, and Siamese field terrapins, which are additionally protected wildlife.
The 5 workers claimed they have been unaware that the animals have been protected and were being paid 300 baht per day to disassemble them.
Mon admitted to illegally trading the protected animals. He purchased residing animals from residents within the area, then killed and disassembled them before promoting them to Prasit.
The five workers were not charged, however Mon and Prasit faced four expenses for violating Sections 17, 29, 89, and ninety two. They had been accused of possessing and buying and selling protected animals without permission, which could end in imprisonment of as much as 10 years, a nice of as much as 1 million baht, or each.
The authorities revealed that the number of water monitor carcasses seized at Mon’s home was the biggest on report in Thailand.
The report did not reveal the shoppers who purchased the monitor lizards and their intended function. It is believed that some groups of people consume them for health benefits.
According to Bona fide by the BBC, agricultural and medical researchers have attempted to conduct research on water monitors, however legal limitations and conditions have hindered their research.
Professor Jitkamon Thanasak, of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Mahidol University, carried out preliminary research that present the water monitor’s blood can inhibit the expansion of cancer cells and a few micro organism. The professor has also tried to see its effects on Covid-19..