Thailand : 1,580 turtles and 34 pangolins saved from dinner table

Soldiers on Sunday saved 1,580 turtles and 34 pangolins from being shipped to China where they were destined to be served up as exotic meals.

The animals were in plastic boxes hidden under containers filled with fruit in a six-wheel truck being searched at a checkpoint on Phetsakem road in Muang district, army unit leader Theeraporn Boonsue Said

The search found 1,580 turtles hidden in 158 boxes and 34 pangolins in six containers at the bottom of the freight compartment, Sub Lt Theeraporn said. The animals were seized and handed over to the province’s wild life office.

Authorities randomly check trucks which could be used by traffickers to transship rare animals by covering them with fruit during the harvesting season in the southern region.

The seized turtles could have earned the traffickers 3 million baht if the driver had been able to deliver the animals to buyers, he added.

The demand for turtles and pangolins is high in China where many believe the meat contains medicinal qualities

Source : Bangkok Post