Guy Busted Raising 6 Tigers on Rooftop

He was only authorized to raise 2
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 10, 2012 12:48 PM CDT
Guy Busted Raising 6 Tigers on Rooftop
Two tiger cubs are chained and kept in an enclosure on the roof top of the apartment building in Pathum Thani proivince, central Thailand Monday, Sept. 10, 2012.   (Apichart Weerawong)

A Thai man has been arrested and accused of illegally raising six tigers on top of an apartment building on Bangkok's outskirts after police busted a larger tiger-trafficking ring in the country. Environmental police acting on a tip found four adult and two juvenile tigers on a rusty caged compound on the rooftop of a four-story apartment in a residential neighborhood in Pathum Thani province today.

Police say the apartment's caretaker told them he owned the animals but was authorized to raise only two of them; 28-year-old Surasak Bunthienthong has been initially charged with illegal possession of protected wild animals. A police spokesman said an investigation showed the apartment was a transit spot for tiger trading in Thailand, where tigers are illegally sold for skin, fangs, and organs. (More tigers stories.)

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