Airport Security Finds Drugged Tiger in Luggage

Last week, a woman booked for a flight from Thailand to Iran checked her suitcase with two tigers inside — one stuffed and one real. The live tiger was about two months old and had been tranquilized for the trip. I guess she hoped that if her bags were inspected, they wouldn't notice that one of the tigers was breathing, or that the x-rays showed more than stuffing.

The scary thing is, if her bag hadn't been overweight, it might not have been pulled aside and x-rayed. Had the inspectors missed the little guy, he probably wouldn't have survived the four to five hour flight stuck in the suitcase. When he was rescued and taken to a wildlife conservation center in Bangkok, he was dehydrated and couldn't walk. They've been nursing him back to health and hope that DNA tests will provide clues as to where he originated, and whether he was wild or captive-bred.

The 31-year-old Thai woman, Piyawan Palasarn, faces up to four years in prison and a fine of about $1,300, which less than half of the $3,200 or so she would have made on the black market in Iran. No wonder she was willing to take the risk of smuggling the cub.

Yet Palasarn denies that the tiger was hers, claiming that another passenger had asked her to carry it for them. (When security asks if you packed your own bags or if anyone gave you anything to carry for them, did a tiger cub ever cross your mind?)

This isn't the first time someone has tried to fly under the radar with live endangered species. Last month, a man arriving on a flight from Peru was stopped at Mexico City's international airport. When questioned by security, Richard Cabrera became "markedly nervous," so they searched him. He had 18 endangered titi monkeys in pouches strapped to a girdle. (If you thought flying was uncomfortable, imagine sitting on a plane with a bunch of monkeys strapped to you ... or imagine being the poor monkeys.) The tiny 6-inch monkeys had originally been in his suitcase, but he said he was worried about the x-rays harming them, so he switched to the girdle method. Two of the monkeys were already dead. The rest were seized and Cabrera was charged with endangered species trafficking.

Chris Shepherd with TRAFFIC, the international wildlife trade monitoring network, says, "If people are trying to smuggle live tigers in their check-in luggage, they obviously think wildlife smuggling is something easy to get away with and do not fear reprimand." Obviously. But the only way to stop this insanity is to ensure that airport, border security and other authorities are trained in identifying wildlife trafficking, along with stronger penalties for offenses and governments who are on board with enforcement.

Photo credit: David Bowly