Image Source: Sky News

Customs officials discovered a two-month old tiger cub in a passenger’s check-in luggage at Bangkok Airport on Friday, August 20.

The small animal was hidden amongst plush tiger toys in an attempt to smuggle it aboard an international flight. Authorities noticed the cat as it passed through X-Ray machines at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

A thirty one year old Thai woman was detained and questioned regarding the live tiger in her luggage. “The woman denied any knowledge of the tiger. She said she was carrying [the suitcase] for someone else,” customs airport official, Nirat Nipanand said.

Tiger populations in Asia are constantly under threat from poachers and illegal trade. “They obviously think wildlife smuggling is something easy to get away with” said Deputy Regional Director for Wildlife Trade monitors TRAFFIC, Chris Shepherd.