Asia-Pacific News

Slow lorises smuggler eludes arrest in Thailand

Mar 1, 2007, 3:07 GMT

Bangkok - Bangkok police are hunting for a Japanese national who attempted to smuggle 23 baby slow lorises in his suitcase to Narita Airport last week but managed to elude arrest, an animal protection foundation said on Thursday. Police police are looking for Kawarabuki Nobuhito who checked in his luggage on a Thai Airways International (THAI) flight bound for Tokyo on February 24 but never boarded the plane at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. Airport authorities, made suspicious by noises coming from Nobuhito's luggage, upon investigation found 23 baby slow lorises crammed in tiny cages inside. The slow lorise, a protected species, is a primate indigenous to South-East Asia, popular among some people as pets due to their large eyes and slow movements. One of the animals died from suffocation but the remainder were placed under the care of a government-run wildlife sanctuary. 'This is the fourth case of a Japanese national attempting to smuggle slow lorises from Thailand to Japan so we can assume the market for this pet is on the rise,' said Mook Wongchyakul, a spokesperson for WildAid Foundation in Thailand. Three Japanese were arrested for slow lorises smuggling last year, Mook said. 'We are talking with the nature crime police and customs about conducting an investigation into this illegal trade between Thailand and Japan,' said Nirath Nipanant, Chief of Wildlife Checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Slow lorises smuggler eludes arrest in Thailand

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