62 macaques rescued from wildlife smugglers

Sixty-two macaques were abandoned by fleeing wildlife traffickers intercepted by a goverment border patrol in Nong Khai province on Wednesday morning.

A team of police, soldiers and local officials spotted a box pickup truck stopping on the bank of the Mekong River in Ratana Wapi district around 5.30am. At the same time, eight men in a long-tail boat pulled into the river bank, walked to the parked vehicle and began unloading a cage from the back of the truck.

The patrol moved in to question the men, who immediately dropped everything and fled, abandoning the parked vehicle. They left behind three iron cages and one plastic cage containing a total of 62 live macaques.

The seizure of the animals was announced by Pol Col Phuvit Siripanit, chief of Ratana Wapi police, in the company of other senior officers and local officials involved in the operation.

He said it was believed the captured wild monkeys were being smuggled out of the country for use in laboratory testing abroad. The rescued animals would be placed in the care of the Phu Pha Man National Park’s animal rehabilitation centre.