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Published on January 31, 2008

"We have started DNA tests to trace the tigers' origins," Wattana Wettayaprasit, director of CITES Wildlife and Plant Conservation Division, said.

Another official, Siriwat Paowongsa, who heads the Wildlife Conservation Office's Wildlife Protection Division, said the examination of feline bodies, especially paws, could also determine whether the tigers were farm-raised or from the wild.

"So far, we suspect that they came from a farm because they were healthily fat," he said.

On Tuesday, officials intercepted smugglers on a road in Nakhon Phanom at about 3am.

The smugglers fled in the dark and abandoned their cargo of 11 dead animals - 10 tigers and one leopard - as well as 300 live pangolins.

According to Siriwat, the pangolins will be sent to the Phu Khiew animal shelter.

The Nation