Vietnamese men charged with poisoning, stealing tiger from zoo

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Monday August 21, 2006

Hanoi- Four Vietnamese men have been arrested on charges ofpoisoning an endangered tiger, disemboweling it and stealing thecarcass from a zoo in southern Vietnam, police said Monday. The four men, all in their 20s, admitted feeding the tigerpoisoned meat and selling the body for 11,250 dollars to a man in HoChi Minh City, according to Dang Quang Minh, head of police socialcrime investigations in southern Tien Giang province. The buyer, Nguyen Khac Diep, 53, was arrested last week afterpolice found the carcass in a refrigerator in his home, Minh said. The four tiger thieves - Nguyen Van Cung, 21, Pham Phu Loi, 21,Luu Ngoc Tan, 23, and Nguyen Van Chat, 22 - were apprehended Saturdayin Dong Nai province, 100 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City. Only a few hundred tigers are left in Vietnam, and the theft twomonths ago of the big cat from Dong Tam Snake Farm caused outrage inTien Giang. The thieves not only killed the tiger, but disemboweledit before carrying away the body, leaving a pile of bloody organs inits cage. Tiger bones and other parts are often used in traditionalVietnamese medicine. "Tiger glue" - made from boiling the bones ofthe tiger and said to restore the bones of the elderly - can sell foras much as 5,000 dollars a kilogram on the black market.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur